One Piece: The story of the Relic Pirates
by Maxulus
Summary: At West Blue, a young man named Relic is attempting to start his new crew. Aiming to become the pirate king, he is about to encounter many obstacles in front of his way. He will meet friends and enemies and he will live adventures that only a few people have. Follow Relic, Todd and the other members of the crew in their great adventure. Please Review. OC
1. Relic and Todd

**Well, after reading a few One Piece fanfics, I decided to make my own. I am new to this, but I hope you are going to enjoy this. I will try to make this story enjoyable for all of you and I will try to update this as often as possible. Thank you very much and please review.**

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The young man with the curly dark hair, the dark-colored eyes, the tan skin and the dark tight t-shirt, the tight black pair of jeans and the black shoes was running, trying to escape from the clutches of the marines who were following him. He was panting and he looked quite tired and his face was also bleeding. It was obvious that he was running away from them for some reason and that he was in such a bad condition that he could not really face them at all. While running, he gulped for a while and he turned his head, looking at all those men who were approaching him. He stopped and with a decisive look on his face, he said "I am taking you all on!", prepared to start a battle with them.

"Finally, Relic!" said the marines, including the boss of the marines who was in the middle that was a bulky man with a hook on his left hand and a helmet that was covering his face.

But what happened that made all those marines follow the man they called Relic? Oh, that story goes back a few minutes...

In a bar at Atmos Town, the only town on the little island of West Blue that was known as Atmos Island, there were several man sitting all over the place, including Relic. Relic was quietly drinking his glass of whiskey by himself, while there were pirates all around, boasting about what they managed to do thus far. Most of them were speaking about how they managed to loot other ships, some others about how they managed to defeat marines and a few others about how they managed to kill people. All those people were not really important for the young man, as he viewed them as useless piece of garbage who were just playing pirates. As a result, Relic would not really speak to any of them at all...

"Hey, punk. Why are you not speaking?" asked a tall man, a head taller than the short Relic.

"I am just not interested in you."

"And why are you not interested in us?" he kept asking.

"Because I am going to become the Pirate King and I don't need any of you to tell me about anything stupid you did up until now. You are doing your job and I am doing mine."

"You try to act tough, huh?" asked the tall man and other pirates approached him, to back him up if needed.

"Nevermind... I am just leaving." said Relic, not wanting to speak with the man anymore. He got up from his seat and he walked passed the tall man, totally ignoring him.

The tall man got pissed. He turned his head and he grabbed Relic from the shoulder with his left hand, turning him and looking at his eyes. "Don't mess with me, kid!" he yelled and he slapped him with his other hand, leaving his hand print on Relic's face.

"Just shut up, I just asked for my quietness." Relic got angry before he clenched his fist and he punched the man in the face, striking him with such great force that the man was sent several meters away until he was crushed on a wall with such strength that the wall cracked.

"Crap! What strength!" commented the people from all over the area.

"I am leaving. And I am not paying anything. It's your mistake, barman, that you let scum like these in your bar." said Relic, while leaving.

"Don't go, punk! Wait!" said the bartender, obviously angry and worried about his money. "Anybody! Tell me that idiot's name!"

"Relic! I think it's Relic! We talked together earlier!" said a customer and the bartender nodded before calling the marines.

"Marines! Help! A man named Relic is refusing to pay me! Help me!" said the bartender to the marines and they were all dispatched to arrest Relic.

And now, a few minutes later...

"Why?! Why me? And what for? A stupid drink?!" wondered the young man who wished to become the Pirate King, while looking at the marines.

"Surrender or we shoot!" said the boss of the marines.

"Never!"

"Shoot him marines!" commanded the boss but before the marines shot, they all fell down on the ground, injured.

In the middle of the distance between the boss of the marines and Relic, there was a man standing, sheathing a sword casually. He wore a black bandana on his head right above his blond hair, he had light green colored eyes and he wore a suit, with the shirt below being open. Also, instead of shoes he wore sandals, revealing his feet.

"Who are you?" asked Relic, surprised.

"My name is Todd. I am a swordsman and I decided to join you. I heard your speech in the bar and looked at you when you punched that idiot in the bar... I realized at that time that you are the man I am looking for to join." said the mysterious swordsman.

"Hey, you two! You are going down!" said the boss of the marines while pointing at them with his hook and he rushed at Todd, trying to impale him with the hook.

However, before he actually reached him, Relic moved quickly in front of him and performed a powerful kick that sent the man flying. Then, he jumped high on the sky at the spot where the marine was and he performed a spinning kick, sending the marine on the floor.

"Huh? That strength... It's... weird." commented Todd, while looking at Relic, who was landing.

"My ship is at the port. We would better leave before they wake up and follow us." suggested Relic.

"Yes, sir!" said the swordsman with a smile on himself.

"Oh, and by the way... I am Sauron Relic, the man who is going to become the Pirate King!" said Relic while laughing as the two moved away. A new adventure was about to begin.

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**Also, I am accepting OCs, but not for the members of the crew. So if you want to, you may send me characters for future usage.**


	2. Drunk City

**I just want to point out that a few chapters may be short, some others may be long. Thanks.**

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After their meeting at Atmos Island, Relic and Todd set sail so that they would travel to the Grand Line and eventually the New World, where the legendary treasure of the Pirate King was supposed to be. However, before they sailed at those seas, there were a few people that they would better find as a pirate crew could not be consisting of a few members... As a result, before getting into the Grand Line, Relic decided to sail around West Blue for some time so that he could meet the necessary people for a few positions...

"Why did we dock here, Relic?" asked Todd, while the crew was docking on an island.

"Well, the truth is that I want us to find a cook or a doctor. I was lucky that you happen to be a navigator, as well, but that doesn't mean that I should not stop searching for the necessary people to join in my crew."

"But still... Most people in West Blue are quite weak. It would be wiser to find people in the Grand Line for the job."

"Meh... I want my crew to be an all-West-Blue crew." said Relic while smiling.

"I see..." said Todd, as the two started walking around the port town of the island they just happened to land on.

The truth was that the town was kind of weird. There were people around who were walking weirdly. Their eyes were barely open and whenever words were heard from their mouths, it was impossible for both Relic and Todd to understand what they were saying.

"Hm... This place looks weird... Where are we, Todd?" asked Relic.

"The truth is that I don't know but I do have a suspicion..."

"Let's ask!" said Relic and turned his head to a man. He patted him on the back before speaking a few words. "Hey, sir... Could you tell me where we are?"

"Hik! Hik! We... are... What?" asked the man while turning his back at Relic and leaving.

"Hm? What is going on?" wondered Relic.

"I know." explained Todd.

"Hm? Tell me!"

"This is the Drunk City, an almost forgotten city of West Blue. Nobody bothers visiting this place because the people living here are in a constant hangover!" explained Todd.

"Wow." Relic was surprised. "Nice."

"Yeah."

"We should drink anything here, don't you think?"

"We should drink everything here... Hehe." laughed Todd and the two of them rushed at a bar they found nearby, one of the many bars that the peculiar city happened to have.

What would the two men meet at the bar? Would they actually find anybody or would they just drink some alcohol before leaving the island? So many questions to be answered!


	3. Two wanted men

After arriving at a city called Drunk City, Relic and Todd decided to enter a random bar in order to find out whether the alcohol in that place that was called "the city of alcohol" was actually good. The two of them entered the bar but little they did know about what they were about to encounter...

Inside the bar there was actually nobody, or at least that was how it looked so. The place was empty and there was not even a barman. Todd looked around and scratched his head surprised as he could not see anybody. However, while looking around and entering the back rooms of the bar, Relic's voice was heard, screaming at Todd.

"Todd! Come here! I found somebody!" he yelled and Todd immediately run back, only to stand right next to Relic. Right below Relic, there was a man who was unconscious, if not dead. He was smelling like alcohol. He wore a red colored sleeveless shirt and black pants with dark red shoes. He was not very muscular but he had a handsome face. He had red colored hair which were very beautiful, probably because he took good care of them.

"Who is that guy, Relic?" asked Todd.

"I don't know, but he might die soon. We'd better help him!"

"What shall we do?"

"Go bring some water. I will try to wake him up."

"Okay!" said Todd as he rushed at the bar in order to bring a glass of water, while in the meantime Relic was patting the man on the back to wake him up.

"Wake up! Wake up!" yelled Relic, hoping that the unconscious man would wake up.

"Here!" Todd brought the water and they gave it to the unconscious man to drink it. "What else?" said Todd afterwards, while looking at Relic.

"I don't know, Todd! I am not a doctor!"

"You two!" a voice was heard. "You are under arrest!" the voice kept being heard and both Todd and Relic turned their heads at the entrance of the bar, only to notice that there was a weird man at the place.

"Who are you?" asked Relic while scratching his head.

"Me? Huh? Me? Don't you know me? Huh? Me?" said the man, while not actually giving an answer.

"Yes, you."

"I am... Who am I? Oh damn, that alcohol is making me forget... Hik! It's making me forget things."

"Seriously?" both Relic and Todd looked at the man with an awkward face.

"Hik!"

"He's drunk..." commented Todd.

"And? I am more dangerous while drunk... Same for the rest of this city. You are in the Drunk City, the city of Drunken Kenpo! Everybody here is a master of the martial art." laughed the drunk man.

"Seriously? Well, you could have kept that a secret. Though, that's convenient. We might find anybody worthy to join my crew, here." commented Relic.

"It doesn't matter, "Man in Black" Relic... You have a bounty on your head along with your friend. Everybody around is coming after you."

"Huh? Bounties on our heads?" Todd was surprised.

"Yes... According to today's newspaper, "Man in Black" Relic has a bounty of 3,000,000 for being the captain, while you have a bounty of 1,000,000 , "Black Sandal" Todd. Hik!"

"Hm... But how did they find out we are over here?" wondered Relic.

"It was that drunk weirdo, outside." commented Todd. "He probably spreaded the word to the whole city."

"Exactly! Hik!" said the drunk man who was talking at the two pirates and he took a weird battling stance. Being a muscular and tall person, he looked quite creepy.

"I will settle this..." said Todd. "You are the captain and you would better stand back. If you lose, then who is going to lead the ship?"

"There is no need to... Besides, from the looks of it, we are going to be chased by all the citizens in this place. Don't you remember what he said? Everybody around knows how to use the Drunken Kenpo... Even if you deal with him, you won't be able to deal with the rest. You should focus and wait until the time a swordsman appears. I will do the job." were the words of Relic, who moved in front of Todd who was about to unsheathe his sword.

"Hik! Are you ready?" asked the drunk muscular guy.

"Sure." Relic laughed and he took his battle stance as well. The battle was about to begin!


	4. Drunken Kenpo

Inside the bar, Relic and Todd were challenged by a mysterious man who came to fight against them and take them down, claiming that he and the rest of the city wanted to take them down because they had bounties on their heads. Now, both Relic and Todd are ready to do whatever it takes in order to win against the Drunken Kenpo citizens of Drunk City and set sail once again.

"Come at me!" said the muscular man and he grabbed a bottle of alcohol he was carrying at his belt, drinking a few droplets of alcohol. Then, he dropped the bottle at Relic, aiming to strike at his head.

"No way I am getting hit by that!" said Relic while punching the bottle away, throwing it down and breaking it. However, while he was distacted at punching the bottle, the enemy had already appeared in front of him and he was about to perform a powerful punch in his face.

"Drunk Fist!" he yelled but before his fist reached Relic's face, the captain moved his head at the left, ultimately dodging the attack.

"Ha!" Relic raised his knee and he attempted to perform a kick at the enemy's stomach, but the drunk man moved with weird backsteps to dodge the attack. Following that dodge, Relic attempted to perform a spinning kick with his leg on the air, but the drunk man lowered his muscular body, dodging the attack once more and he slided away, avoiding the attack.

"He's fast!" commented Todd, surprised.

"That's no big deal. I am not even serious. I just want to check out how the users of the Drunken Kenpo battle."

"I hope so..." said Todd and he took a deep breath.

"Drunk Fist!" the man moved quickly in front of Relic once again, but Relic dodged once again, this time by jumping backwards.

"Ha!" shouted Relic as he run forward, this time, attempting to perform a kick with his foot at the enemy's face.

"Drunk Focus..." the man focused his eyes, paying close attention at Relic's kick. And while Relic was confident enough that the kick would actually hit the man, the drunk raised his hand and grabbed Relic's foot, stopping him and making him freeze for a moment.

"Huh?" Relic was surprised.

"What is it? Hik! Why are you not smiling anymo-" before the man completed his sentence, he stopped speaking and his eyes twitched immediately. The sound of slashing was heard and the man let Relic go before he fell on the bar's floor, bleeding from a big wound.

"Sorry, pal. It's two against a city. I couldn't let my boss get damaged." said Todd and laughed.

"Thanks, Todd. I could handle him, but that was appreciated."

"No problem, Relic." said the swordsman while sheathing his sword back. "We'd better go... But what shall we do with the unconscious man?"

"We did all we could... I guess we can't do anything else. After all, we are not doctors, as I said." said Relic, disappointed before getting outside the bar. Then, Todd followed and they both looked at the man while closing the door.

However, by the time they got outside, they already regretted it. The place was full of drunk people who could barely walk, or at least seemed to be able to barely walk, as they were drunk.

"What the..." said Todd, surprised.

"You two! You are not getting away! We are going to get you and receive the 4,000,000 Beri for your heads!" said a man who was standing forward.

"Now, this is going to be my time to shine." said Todd, grinning while looking at the masses of drunk people and unsheathing his sword.

"A sword is more handful than bare hands, you think?" asked Relic.

"Yes."

"Then go on..." said the captain. "We will find out soon!" he took a battling stance and he prepared himself to take on all those people, along with his swordsman and first mate! The real battle would begin soon!


	5. Drunk Master Rumpo

"HAAAAAAAAAA!" yelled Relic while jumping at the masses of the drunk people and he started performing several powerful kicks and punches to the people, one after another. While many of them were capable fighters, they were not as strong as the man in the bar was. They could not even stop Relic, who was in a form of a rampage against them. He was not stopping punching and kicking them in their faces and in their stomachs, while he gracefully jumped out of the way of their incoming attacks, showing his great skills over martial arts.

"Wow... You are stronger than I expected." said Todd, who was also doing well against his enemies. Without a second thought, he rushed into the middle of the crowd, and with his sword he started cutting people down one after another, as if their bodies were made of butter. While his attacks were not powerful enough to be lethal with one strike, Todd knew the amount of necessary strength he had to put in each one of his slashes in order to make them strong enough to damage his enemies to the point that they would fall down, unable to continue their battle.

"Oh shit, you are not going to win in this competition!" said Relic, while punching a man at the chest and sending him several meters away.

"I already did. Sorry." said Todd with a grin on his face and he vanished from his position, only to reappear away from the crowd.

"Huh? What did you just do?" wondered Relic.

"As I said, I won our short competition." he replied and he sheathed his sword. "Sword Hurricane." he named his technique and by the time his sword was fully sheathed, most of the standing enemies around were cut down. As their blood sprayed the whole area, the remaining users of the Drunken Kenpo backed off, scared to death by the mysterious but powerful swordsman.

"That technique you just used... It's not a normal one, is it?" said Relic, smiling.

"Nope, it isn't."

"I heard that one of the Pirate King's subordinates was a master of a similar battling style."

"Yes, he was..." said Relic, while taking a deep breath.

"I see... But how did you learn that technique anyway?"

"Well, the truth is that I want to become the best swordsman to have ever existed... And in order to do so, the only way is to master all the battling styles that the swordsmen affiliates of the Pirate King happened to use. So far, this is the only technique I have managed to master, but I am sure than in the future I will succeed in mastering more and more..." said Todd.

"Hahahahahahahaha! That's funny!"

"Yes. You got yourself a quite good swordsman, didn't you?"

"Yeap. I did... I definitely did." commented Relic.

However, while the two were speaking the man from inside the bar got out, slamming the door with great strength. He had an angry look on his face and his muscles looked even bigger than before. He carried a large bottle of alcohol on his right hand, which he drunk immediately in seconds, drinking every single droplet of it.

"You bastards! Hik! Hik! What do you think? Just because you slashed me, that doesn't mean I am down! Hik!" he said before he vanished from his position, reappearing in front of Todd and performing a powerful punch at the man's chest that made him scream in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" screamed Todd while falling on his knees.

"Hik! You defeated a bunch of weaklings and you think you can leave like that? Hik! Hik!" he walked in a zig zag pattern, probably because of the extreme amounts of alcohol he drunk. However, he immediately disappeared from his position once again, appearing in front of Relic, prepared to strike him. "Drunk Fist!" yelled the muscular man.

PAMP! The sound of two fists colliding was heard and surprisingly enough for Todd, Relic blocked the attack by moving his left hand in front of his head, in a stance that he blocked the punching attack with his fist.

"I am way out of your league... Just go. Before, you were just an harmless bastard. But I cannot be cheerful when facing a bastard that hit my subordinate!" said Relic and his eyes shined on the spot, making him take a creepy look on his face.

"You seem to have a big opinion about yourself, huh? Just get lost, kid!" the muscular man slapped Relic away, sending him several meters away. However, Relic easily regained his balance and stood on his feet, as if nothing happened.

"You made the wrong choice, alcoholic bastard." said Relic with a very serious tone in his voice and he rushed at the muscular man, slamming him with a kick at the neck that made him fall on the ground with great force.

"That doesn't hurt at all!" the man got up and grabbed another bottle of alcohol. He drunk the content of the bottle quickly and he took an evil look on his face as he clenched his fist. "The more alcohol I drink, the stronger I become. I am the Drunk Master Rumpo!" the man introduced himself and he quickly jumped in front of Relic, grabbing him with his muscular arms.

"Huh?!" Relic was surprised while being grabbed by the man.

"Drunk Grable!" Rumpo tightened the grable.

"Let him go!" Todd rushed at Rumpo who seemed to be in a berserk state.

"Bullshit!" Rumpo threw Relic at Todd, damaging both of them.

"Damn it... He is much stronger than before..." commented Relic. "He has drunk so much that his drunken kenpo is in its best state... But why is he still okay? Shouldn't he fall down already?" he wondered.

"Hik! Never! Alcohol is like one and the same as my blood! There is no way it can affect me!" the bald man laughed.

"What are we doing now, captain?" asked Todd.

"You should stand back... I will finish this battle by myself."

"But Relic, he is stronger than you are!"

"I still got some tricks under my sleeves..." said Relic, taking a deep breath in the meanwhile.

"Cut the crap!" Rumpo grabbed a large barrel which he dropped at the two men.

"How can he lift a barrel that big?!" wondered Todd, while unsheathing his sword to cut down the barrel in two, making rum flow all around the area as the barrel was full of it.

"You two... You are good, but you can make no match for me! Drunk Slam!" Rumpo jumped high on the air and opened his arms and his legs, falling down with his body stretched to the maximum.

"If he hits us, we are dead for sure!" said Relic.

"I got it!" Todd raised his sword and pointed towards the falling man.

"Right into my trap." commented Rumpo, who curled himself while on the air and moved slightly to dodge the pointing sword attack. Then, he stopped curling himself and he landed right behind Todd before performing a punch from behind that sent him at Relic with great speed.

"I told you to leave this to me!" yelled Relic at Todd, who was lying on the ground after getting slammed at Relic.

"You think you can win, huh?" laughed Rumpo. "You have no idea about the fighters of this place." he said as the defeated enemies that Todd slashed down before started moving their arms, grabbing a few bottles they were carrying at their waists and drinking the alcoholic liquid inside them. Then, they started getting up one after another, much to the shock of Todd and Relic.

"That is... bad..." said Todd, while still lying on the ground.

"We are in trouble..." agreed Relic as the two men eventually got surrounded by the several drunk men.

What was going on?!


	6. Crash

"There is no way you can leave. Just surrender before we kill you. Hik!" suggested Rumpo while taking an evil grin on his face.

"I just started my journey and I am not going to surrender to a few drunk bastards like you, no matter what." replied Relic.

"I am with my captain." Todd got up and cleaned his tuxedo that was full of dust with his hands for a second.

"Go men!" yelled Rumpo and the users of the drunken kenpo rushed at the two pirates once more, this time with greater speed and strength.

"Damn it..." Todd attempted to block the incoming attacks with his sword, although he was barely able to do so. "They are strong!"

"I know." said Relic while punching an enemy in the face and making him fall down.

"Even if we defeat them, that guy is still safe and sound, though... We are in trouble, captain!"

"Trouble? What trouble?" a voice was heard from the roof of a building. Above the building there was a figure whose face could not be seen as the sun was overshadowing him. However, it was possible to realize from the tone of the voice that the figure belonged to a man and that he carried some kind of weapon with him.

"Now you are doomed, that's for sure!" laughed Rumpo while looking at the man. It looked like he realized who the man was.

"Shut up, Rumpo." said the man, while taking a sniping stance. Then, he started sniping down the drunken kenpo users one after another, making them fall on the ground unconscious. In a matter of seconds, all the enemies were down and only Rumpo was still standing, safe and sound.

"What are you doing over there, Crash?! WHO ARE YOU SHOOTING?!" yelled Rumpo at the man.

"I am shooting those who are battling the people that saved my life." repled the man and he jumped down from the building, revealing his face. The man was none other than the unconscious man that Relic and Todd tried to help at the bar. He was safe and sound and he was assisting them in the battle against the citizens of Drunk City.

"You are okay!" smiled Relic while looking at the man.

"Yes... That water saved my life, I am pretty sure about it. You see, I drunk too much and I was... Oh well, I'd better not explain. What matters is that you saved me." he said before pointing at Rumpo.

"Huh? Stop pointing at me!" Rumpo seemed to be afraid.

"Sorry, Rumpo." said the redhead as he pulled the trigger and launched a bullet towards the muscular man, striking him at the chest.

But, unlike what anybody would expect, the enemy did not fall down. He was still standing, as if he was not actually shot.

"What the...?" wondered Todd.

"What is it? A failure of a bullet? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I was lucky." laughed the muscular man.

"No... It's something better." commented Crash while grabbing a case and disassembling his sniper to place it back. "Take him down, boss." he spoke to Relic.

"Hm? Boss?" the man smiled and he run towards Rumpo's direction. He raised his leg and he prepared to throw a kick.

"That's pointless!" Rumpo moved his hands forward in an attempt to block. However, not only he did not block, but the kick sent him more than 10 meters away, before having him slammed at the wall of a building that cracked upon impact.

"I see..." commented Todd while smiling.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH! You bastard, Crash! What did you do?" yelled Rumpo while falling on the ground, unable to walk. He probably broke his back.

"I shot you with a caffeine bullet... It sounds crazy but it's a special bullet I thought about in order to deal with idiots from here." replied Crash.

"Pretty smart, if you ask me." were Todd's words and Relic nodded.

"It looks like I found the sniper I wanted." spoke Relic.

"Meh, I am not a sniper. I am jack of all trades. I can use the sword, as well." said Crash.

"No need to... We already have a swordsman. You can be the sniper... And maybe you can also steer our ship or maybe create us some weapons like the awesome bullets you made!" explained Relic.

"Deal!"

"Great!" said Relic and he took a wide smile on his face. "I got us a sniper!" he yelled out of joy.

"Welcome in the crew, Crash." Todd gave his hand, performing a handshake with Crash.

"Oh yes, I forgot to introduce myself... I am Sauron Relic, the captain of the Relic Pirates. Welcome in my crew." Relic finally introduced himself to his new sniper... Then, the three men started speaking while leaving towards the port as there were no people that could dare to follow them anymore. Another story had just come to an end and the Relic Pirates had just found another member...


	7. Fundom

After finding out their sniper at Drunk City, the Relic Pirates set sail. Now, consisting of three members, the crew would head to another island of West Blue, known as Fundom, in hopes that they would find a member to join as a doctor.

"Oh crap..." said Crash as soon as the crew arrived.

"What is it, Crash?" asked Todd.

"I forgot my bullets back at Drunk City... I have only a few left. I'd better get to a shop to buy a few."

"Chill out, we are going together... I want to search for a powerful sword to use. This one is a good one, but it is not really the best a swordsman can use." commented Todd and he walked towards Crash's direction, before the two jumped off the ship.

"What are you going to do, captain?" asked Crash, afterwards.

"Me? Oh well... There is always something one can do in Fundom. I may visit the Ferris Wheel, I guess." replied Relic while jumping off the ship, as well.

"I see." said Todd while walking away. "See you later, then." he said goodbye to the captain and he left along with Crash.

"Now, now... What shall I do?" whispered the captain.

"I have an idea." a creepy voice was heard from behind.

"Huh?!" the captain was scared to death, before turning his head, noticing a short man. He wore a grey costume with black stripes and he carried a cane.

"Sorry for scaring you off. I am Vincent Arcana... I am the manager of the West Blue Circus!" the man introduced himself and he took a wide smile on his small face with the big eyes.

"Vincent Arcana?"

"Yes... People call me Arcana."

"I see. I am Relic."

"Nice to meet you Relic."

"So, what is that circus you are talking about?"

"It's the greatest of all the circus that ever existed... While consisting only of six people, including me, we are capable of performing high level tricks. You should check us out. We are right next to the Ferris Wheel." explained Arcana and he pointed towards Fundom's large Ferris Wheel, that was visible from the port.

"I guess I shall give it a try. When does the show start?"

"Never! It's a never ending show!"

"NICE!" Relic's eyes sparkled. "Let's go!" he said and he started running towards the Ferris Wheel, while Arcana walked casually and followed.

After a while, the two men finally arrived at the large circus. The place was full of people while there were barely any places for anybody to sit. The show was fantastic. There were acrobats performing some difficult stunts, while there was also a female magician who was performing tricks with the fire. At the moment he stared at her, Relic would change significantly. His eyes popped out and they turned into hearts, indicating that he instantly fell in love with that woman.

"Who... Who is that girl?" he asked with curiosity.

"Oh, she? She is Flare, our magician... She is mostly using magic tricks based on fire. Her performance is outstanding." replied Arcana.

"Indeed... Outstanding." said Relic with a low voice, while slightly smiling.

The captain of the Relic Pirates had just... fallen in love?!


	8. Her name is Flare

Meanwhile, at Fundom's central square, there was a large bazaar taking place. There, Todd and Crash had been walking together, watching at all the stuff which were being sold by the merchants. There were many different kinds of shops. There were large shops in which the merchants were selling weapons, there were a few other in which food was being sold and there was also another one very big shop in which jewelry was being sold, at very expensive prices.

"This city has a large bazaar..." commented Crash while looking at the tents of the shops.

"Yes. But that is actually natural. Fundom is a place that is visited by many people. I think it is the most visited place after Illusia Kingdom." explained Todd.

"That sounds reasonable." agreed Crash.

"Anyway, we would better buy all the stuff we need and then search for Relic. Who knows where he might be..."

"You are right." nodded Crash and the two immediately got in a weapon shop.

Inside the weapon shop, there were several people who were looking at the merchandise. However, there were three people who were actually drawing the attention. At the place with the most expensive swords, there was a very tall man, around two meters tall who had long dark hair that reached his knees and dark eyes. He wore a dark blue robe and sandals with white shocks. Along with the man there was also another tall man, slightly shorter. He had a shaved head and light blue eyes. He had a black colored goatee and he wore a similar robe like the man with the long hair, but his robe was red colored. Finally, the third man was a very short guy, with brown colored hair and a brown robe.

"I found the sword you wanted, Denden." said the short guy.

"You did, Philps?" the taller one with the dark blue robe talked to him.

"Yes... That's Safuaia of West Blue, I am positive." Philps replied, while pointing at the sword he was talking about. It was a sword with a sapphire colored handle and small diamonds around it, while its sheath was light blue.

"Huh?!" Todd turned his head, looking at the three weird men with curiosity...

Meanwhile, at the circus...

Relic was surprised with anything he happened to see, especially all those tricks that the fire magician performed. That woman, Flame, was an awesome artist. And even if she wasn't really, at Relic's eyes, she was. While a fire magician, it was like she used magic on him. Her long light blue hair that reached her shoulders... Her clean face with the azure colored eyes and her black colored shorts with that tight white colored sleeveless shirt made him instantly fall in love with her.

"Relic, focus, you came here to watch the show!" whispered Relic to himself. "But how can you do so when that fire magician is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gorgeous!" he took a perverted face afterwards and his nose started bleeding.

"Hey, pervert. Don't act like that for our magician!" Arcana commented.

"I am not a pervert!" yelled Relic.

"No, you are!" Arcana beat up Relic.

"Sorry." Relic apologized at the show's manager.

"It's okay, really... After all, I can totally understand you. Flare is very beautiful. There are only a few women who can match her beauty, in my opinion."

"Yes..." said Relic and he took a deep breath.

"Chill out. You are not the first one, nor the last one. Do you know how many people have come here, just for her?"

"Seriously?"

"Indeed. I am positive that if it wasn't for her, the show would be already dead. Just look at her eyes, then look at what she is doing with the fire..." explained Arcana and Relic looked at Flare as she blew fire from her mouth and dived into it, before her whole body erupted in flames, making her look as if she was burning.

"Awesome..." said Relic while he got another nosebleed.

"You really didn't look at her trick, huh?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"It's okay. Anyway, her part of the show is done for now. It's my time to make my performance! Watch, Relic!" said Arcana, with a smile on his face.

"Sure." Relic took a seat and he observed the man, by the time he jumped on the scene with a very high leap. "What a leap..." thought Relic. "I could ask him to join my crew, if he wasn't really managing this circus. He's a nice dude." he kept thinking, before he felt a hand patting him on the back. "Hm?" he turned his head, noticing Flare. His eyes twitched and he could barely hide his nosebleeds from the woman, although his face had turned completely red.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a cute voice. Her voice... It echoed through his ears like a song of doves... It was something he had never heard before. Or at least, that was how he listened to that voice.

"Erm, yes... Yes... Yes... I am okay."

"Well, you said the word "yes" three times already."

"Yes. Oops, four."

"Hahahaha! You are a funny one, mysterious handsome friend of Arcana." said Flare while staring at Relic's eyes.

"I... am?" Relic could not hold himself, as his nose started bleeding again, making Flare's eyes pop out out of awkwardness.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Of course... And well, you said the phrase "are you okay?" twice already." Relic smiled.

"Yes. I did." she said. "I am Flare." Flare wanted to introduce herself, as she did not really know that Relic knew her name.

"I am-" Relic was also about to introduce himself, but before he told her his name, Crash appeared from behind, panting. He was sweatdropping and he looked slightly damaged, as if something bad had just happened.

"RELIC!" yelled Crash with a worried voice.

"Huh? What is going on, Crash?"

"I searched everywhere for you... Something bad has happened!"

"What?!"

"Todd... Todd has been taken down!"

Shocking news!


	9. The battle below the Ferris Wheel

While at Fundom, Relic met the girl of his dreams. However, right before he was about to introduce himself, Crash appeared, carrying the message of bad news... Todd had been taken down by somebody!

"Huh? Todd?! Impossible!" Relic was surprised, while also worried for his friend.

"We were at the bazaar and he had a dispute with a man who wanted to steal a sword... Todd insisted that he shouldn't let the man leave with it and that he would stop him no matter what!"

"And?!"

"That guy... He was Denden "The blue", the first mate of the Robed Pirates! He had a bounty of 8,000,000 beli on his head, a higher bounty than yours!"

"Oh shit!"

"Before Todd could draw his sword, he run at him and slashed him at the chest! I tried to take Todd along with me, but before I could, I was attacked by another one of them, Davis "The Red"! Before I could pick up Todd's body, he punched me and sent me flying. I was lucky that punch was strong enough to send me away, otherwise, he could have defeated me like Todd was beaten!" explained Crash.

"Get me to those guys!" Relic's face was very serious.

"Huh? You are a pirate?!" Flare was surprised.

"Yes, Flare, I am one."

"Get out of my circus, then!" she yelled at him.

"Huh?"

"LEAVE!" she kept yelling at him.

"I have no time to explain, so whatever..." Relic run outside the circus along with Crash.

However, by the time they left from the circus, the three men with the robes were already there. Denden, Davis and Philps. The three of them had a smile on their faces, as if they were already scheming something.

"Well, well, well... How lucky of us to find you here." Denden laughed, while looking at Crash.

"We thought we you left, but you didn't huh? You got here for reinforcements?" Davis commented.

"Are those guys the bastards?" asked Relic.

"Yes." Crash nodded.

"Okay... Crash, get to the Ferris Wheel and do your job. I am going to handle the three of them by myself, as long as I know that you are covering my back."

"Gotcha."

"You seem to have faith in yourself, don't you?" said Davis, while running at Crash in order to punch him. But, before he could actually reach him, Relic moved in front of him and raised his elbow, striking the man at the chest.

"This guy is stronger than those two." Denden commented.

"Leave this to us, Denden." spoke Philps. "Me and Davis are the martial artists... We agreed to handle bastards like him, remember?"

"Of course."

"Great." Philps smiled and joined in the fray, running at Relic and attempting to kick him at his legs. Relic, though, immediately jumped high, dodging the incoming attack with ease, before moving his foot in an attempt to stomp the head of the tall Davis.

"Ouch!" Davis was ultimately stomped, but as if nothing happened, he raised his hand, grabbing Relic's foot.

"..." Relic's eyes twitched, shocked because of the fact that Davis seemed to be unaffected.

"Why are you surprised? I have a bounty of 5,000,000 beri on my head, you know!" he said.

"Damn it!" yelled Relic, before he got smashed by Davis on the ground. Then, before he could really get up, Philps jumped on him and he started throwing punches at his face one after another, beating him badly. Hopefully, Philps was not as strong as Davis was, however. That was something good.

"You idiot, you really thought you could stop us?" asked Denden with a smile on his face. "We are the top three executives of the Robed Pirates... We are being sent for missions by ourselves for a reason!".

"I...don't...care..." spoke Relic, while still getting punched.

"You are nothing more than a fly who is interfering with our plans. Philps, just finish him off already. We have to rob this circus as fast as possible. The boss is waiting." Denden commanded.

"Yes, Denden!" Philps nodded, but his hand froze before he threw another punch. He looked at Relic's face. His eyes had twitched and his face had just become a shadowed one.

"What did you just say?" he asked with a slow voice that made him sound creepy before he got up, throwing Philps down in the process.

"What the..." Philps was shocked.

"What did you just say?" he repeated, while looking at Philps who just got up and was retreating with backsteps.

"NOBODY IS GOING TO TOUCH THIS PLACE!" shouted Relic before running at Philps and striking him at the top with the head, as if his fist was a hammer. The sound of cracking was heard and Philps fell down on the ground unconscious, all of this in an instant. Philps' head was probably broken.

"PHILPS!" Davis was worried about his friend and he run at the captain in order to strike him.

Bam! Bam! Bam! The sounds of sniping had been heard, though, before Davis actually reached him.

"What now?!" Denden was surprised once more, looking at Davis whose chest had just been pierced three times with bullets.

"You were late, Crash." Relic turned his head, looking at his sniper who was standing at the top of the Ferris Wheel, sniping down the powerful martial artist.

"I am still standing, bastards!" yelled Davis.

"Not anymore." Relic run towards his direction and he raised his foot, kicking him in the face and making him fall on the ground. Then, in a similar way like Philps did before, he started punching him in the face quickly, throwing punches one after another, ultimately defeating him.

"You morons! Don't you know who you are messing with?!" Denden drew his sword and rushed in front of Relic, in an attempt to cut him down. His sword had almost reached Relic's neck, who did not really see him coming as he was focused on beating down Davis. He only looked at the blade that was about to stab him, one second before he looked at the rest that was about to happen.

"Fireball!" a ball of fire was thrown at Denden, burning his clothes.

"HUH?!" the swordsman was surprised and dropped his sword, in an attempt to wear off his clothes.

"Flare!" Relic smiled while looking at the fire magician.

"I couldn't let you die... I watched everything... You are fighting for us, aren't you?"

"No... I am fighting for you and for Todd." he said.

"Enough with this bullshit. Bring it on." Denden interfered. It looked like he had already taken off the burning robe, revealing his well built, naked body.

"Huh?!" Relic was surprised. "That's disturbing! Put something on!"

"Right after I cut you down along with your stupid sniper friend and your bitch!" he drew his sword, the one he stole from the shop at the bazaar. Then, he vanished, showing great speed, before reappearing in front of Flare. He swung his sword vertically in order to cut her in two.

Clank! The sound of swords colliding was heard. "She is not a bitch. She is a friend of my captain." Todd appeared at the scene at the last second, saving Flare from Denden. He had blocked the vertical attack with an horizontal stance with the sword, making the two colliding swords look like a cross.

The showdown of the two swordsmen would begin!


	10. Sorry, old merchant

"You are still alive?" Denden asked, while leaping back.

"I am. Damaged, but alive."

"You pests... You have caused me real trouble. My captain will kill me if he finds out about this!" Denden yelled. "You leave me no other choice but to use my Devil Fruit..." he said, while taking a wicked smile.

"Damn it! Is he a fruit user, as well?" Relic was surprised.

"Leave this to me... I am going to handle him." Todd jumped forward. "I will take on all the swordsmen we happen to meet in our journey."

"Agreed." said Relic and turned his head at Crash, telling him to stop.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Denden screamed as his body started transforming into a hybrid of a snake and a human. His lower body looked like a snake, while his upper half was that of a human. He also had scales and yellow colored eyes in his hybrid form.

"A snake fruit user?"

"I have eaten the Snake Snake Fruit, Model Black Mamba... I am also known as the Poison Swordsman. Do you think you have any chances against me?" he asked.

"That explains a lot. That's why he was resistant to my fire magic!" said Flare.

"Flare, get back at the circus and tell Arcana to stop the show. I will stay here to guarantee that everything is fine."

"No... The show is a never ending show... If we do evacuate the place, that will mean that the show will end!"

"Oh screw this, I'll do it myself!" Relic run inside the circus.

"Wait!" Flare run behind Relic in order to stop him.

"So, that leaves only you and me, huh?" asked Denden.

"Nope. It will leave only me." said Todd.

"You are way too confident for a loser."

"I lost before... So my odds of winning are higher, I think."

"Odds never change for a loser like you."

"You think so?"

"Indeed."

"Let's find out." said Todd while unsheathing another sword he carried with him. That sword had a dark green handle and green colored diamonds around it, while it also had a light green colored sheath.

"No way..."

"Yes way... You stole Safuaia... I was given Emerarudo to bring back Safuaia..." said Todd, while smiling.

[Flashback]

"Young man! Young man!" the merchant approached the badly beaten Todd.

"Hm?" Todd opened his eyes and looked at the merchant. He was not a young one, but he seemed to be in a good shape. In a very good shape, actually.

"Thank you for trying to protect my shop. I appreciate it."

"It's no big deal..." replied Todd while the merchant placed some bandages around his wounded chest. "I couldn't let an idiot like him get a sword like Safuaia."

"You are a swordsman, as well, so you understand."

"I really do... Swords are not tools to steal... They are friends."

"It's been a while since I heard those words." said the merchant.

"Really? It looks like I am not the only one with such views, after all."

"Young man, there are always people with great ideals out there. You just have to search for them and find them."

"I don't care about these people... I care about Safuaia... I mustn't let that scumbag take that sword!"

"I see. Well, all I can say is... How much willing are you to chase after that guy and claim Safuaia back?" asked the merchant.

"That will be the first thing I am about to do." replied Todd while getting up.

"That sounds great... But you can't really face a sword like Safuaia with your own. That sword is a common sword. What can a common sword do against Safuaia?"

"I really don't know... But it's the only sword I can afford. As long as I have the courage, I am pretty sure it will manage to do a lot."

"You are way too confident... But that doesn't matter. I will hand you over a sword that shall help you." said the merchant.

"Really?!" the young swordsman was excited.

"Yes... I will give you a counterpart to that sword... Safuaia is a great sword but there are also three more swords that can match its strength. One of those three counterparts is Emararudo of the East."

"What?! That sword? Impossible!" said Todd, utterly shocked.

"Safuaia may be the sword I sale at the highest price, but Emerarudo is the one with the highest value. It's a sword I have been using for quite a while as a swordsman." explained the merchant.

"You are a swordsman?" asked Todd.

"It doesn't matter what I am. All that matters is that you'd better hurry and get Safuaia back." said the merchant while smiling. Then, he moved his hand behind one of the shelves, grabbing a sword, the sword that he talked about earlier.

"It looks magnificent!" said Todd.

"It is." said the merchant, while smiling.

"I have a few greater swords than this one to use. And Emerarudo is a sword that still hasn't had enough battles yet. I can listen to its voice whenever I clean its edge. It seeks battles." said the merchant.

"Don't worry... I will go and get Safuaia back and bring it back here!"

"Just hurry already and enough with the words."

"Which way did they go?"

"At the right I think." the merchant guided.

"Gotcha!" Todd smiled and he got outside the shop before running towards the left direction.

[Flashback ends]

"And if he didn't give me wrong directions, I would have found you much earlier." Todd spoke a few more words.

"Enough with the blabbering!" said Denden as he slid his body forward with greater speed than he used to run, arriving in front of Todd. He raised his right arm that carried Safuaia and with a twisted look on his face he attempted to slash Todd diagonically, starting from the man's top left shouler and ending at the bottom right of his stomach.

"That's too slow for Emararudo!" the swordsman swung his sword horizontally again, blocking the attack.

"Those swords... I can listen to their laughters when they are colliding!" the snake-human hybrid laughed.

"It's their screams, Denden... Safuaia is screaming because it's being controled by a man like you."

"Silence!" shouted Denden and he slapped his tail on the ground, grantind himself force to jump high on the air. Then, while on the air, he pointed with Safuaia at Todd's head in order to stab him at the top of his head.

"That's slow, as well." Todd raised the sword and blocked the attack with the edge of his sword, redirecting the attack away from his body. Safuaia's attack actually drilled the ground and not the swordsman of the Relic Pirates.

"Stupid, you are." said Denden and he moved his tail. While the sword was stabbing the ground and Todd was distracted as he just redirected a dangerous attack away, Denden curled him with his body, including his hands. Emerarudo was dropped on the ground and Todd seemed to be unarmed.

"Damn it!"

"Why aren't you smiling anymore?" asked Denden as he started generating poison around his mouth.

"ARGH!" screamed the swordsman before he pulled out his arms. "It's not over yet!" he swiftly moved his hands around his waist and he drew another sword, the sword he originally owned, before stabbing Denden at his snake body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the human-snake hybrid screamed in pain, while also spitting at a random location the poison he just generated. "You'll pay for that!" he said afterwards.

"We'll see." said Todd, somewhat more confident as he took back Emerarudo at his hands.

"Just because Emerarudo is not weighing a lot and allows you to move faster, that doesn't mean that your skill is the greatest! You just have a bounty of 1,000,000 beri. I have 8,000,000 on my head!"

"If that's so, I should treat you the way you should!" yelled Todd while throwing Emerarudo, aiming for Denden's face.

"Silly! I am a greater swordsman than you are! That's easy to block!" said Denden with a smile on his face, while swinging Safuaia to deflect Emerarudo away. Emerarudo was struck by the sword of the West, being sent away and falling on the ground. However, by the time Emerarudo fell on the ground, Denden's smile froze. His eyes twitched and he gulped as he noticed that Todd was not in front of his eyes anymore.

"I shall tell the people of the island to keep the change between our bounties. 7,000,000." the serious voice of Todd was heard from behind. He had his other sword unsheathed, prepared to sheathe it back. "Sword Hurricane." he said while sheathing the sword and a large, deep cut appeared at the chest of the human-snake hybrid, spraying the area with his blood.

"Damn you!" yelled Denden while falling unconscious.

Todd sweat dropped for a moment and he slowly walked towards Emerarudo, picking up the sword. Then, he also moved at the defeated body of Denden, grabbing the stolen sword. "Sorry, old merchant... You were wrong. My sword could beat Safuaia, after all." he spoke to himself before moving towards the entrance of the circus. The battle had just finished!


	11. The end of the never ending show

"You really did it." said Crash to Todd, while walking towards the entrance of the circus so that he could reunite with the others.

"Well, it was no big deal. He was only talk and nothing more."

"Well, he defeated you before."

"I was just off-guard."

"I see." said Crash while smiling and the two entered the circus.

There, they could see Arcana performing some juggler tricks, while Relic was yelling at him.

"ARCANA! STOP THE SHOW!" he yelled.

"I cannot. Sorry."

"There is a battle going on outside and the enemies are dangerous!" he yelled.

"Sorry, I don't care."

"Hey, hey! Don't say things like these loudly! The people around will start leaving!" whispered Flare.

"That's the point!" said Relic.

"Chill out. I did it." spoke Todd.

"Todd! You are okay!" the captain was delighted to see his subordinate.

"Of course, I am. Plus, I took that guy out, easily."

"What about your wounds?"

"It's okay." said Todd.

"If you are injured, I can fix your wounds." commented Flare.

"What do you mean?" asked Todd.

"I am a doctor, as well."

"Seriously?!" Relic was happy to listen to that.

"Yes." she said with a smile on her face.

"Perfect! We have a doctor, as well! That's great!"

"What do you mean?" asked Flare.

"Our fourth member is a doctor! Great!" Relic seemed to ignore Flare's question.

"I am not joining your crew!"

"Oh, yes you will!" said Crash while messing with Flare's hair. "Come on, it's going to be fun."

"That is right." Todd agreed.

"The three of us will be something more than happy to have you with us. And I'll be even more." said Relic.

"No, no... I can't leave Arcana like that!"

"It's no big deal, really." Arcana spoke from behind Relic, creeping him out again.

"Why are you doing this all the time?!" the captain yelled at the circus' manager.

"Sorry." the juggler apologized. "Anyway, Flare, I believe you should go with them."

"But Arcana... You... The rest of the people... You have all treated me so well! I can't leave you!" said the woman with a tear around her eyes.

"Listen, Flare... There is something I haven't told you yet... The show is about to end soon."

"What?!" everybody was surprised.

"I am way too old to manage the show anymore. Don't you see? My tricks now are limited to simple juggler tricks. Same for the others. The circus will never reach its prime again. But... You, Flare... You can continue your life. And this is the greatest opportunity you have."

"No! I can't leave this circus! I was an orphan when you brought me here, remember? You and the rest of the circus... You all treated me as your daughter. How can I leave you now?".

"Flare. I took you under my wing and raised you in order to not stick to the circus. You are... like a daughter for me. But I have given you anything I could. I have nothing else to offer. Now, it's up to you, really."

"But... I surpassed you, Arcana! I became a doctor to surpass you! What if anybody gets injured? Who is going to heal them?"

"As I said, the show will end. Just... go."

"Arcana!" the young woman started crying loudly and fell on her knees.

"Stop acting like a girl! You are not a girl anymore!" said Arcana while hugging Flare.

"I... I will never forget you!" she said.

"I will be reading the newspapers everyday for your news." said Arcana with a smile on his face, as a tear dropped from one of his eyes.

"Well, sorry to ruin your moment but I have two swords to return." Todd interfered, ruining the moment.

"Just go return them already!" a crying Crash said, watching at the moment.

"Fine..." agreed Todd, while leaving.

A few minutes later...

Todd is walking at the bazaar, but for a weird reason he cannot find the shop of the merchant. No matter where he is looking for, he cannot find that place. While all the shops are still there, the weapon shop is missing...

"Oh crap." he comments, while finally finding the spot on which the shop of the merchant was. The shop was apparently gone.

"Excuse me, young man." a voice was heard from behind Todd. It was a young girl, holding a message.

"Hm?"

"This message is for you. And old man told me to give it to you."

"I see." said Todd while grabbing the message and he started reading it. The words were not really spelled well, but at least Todd could recognize what the old merchant wanted to say.

"K33p th3 swords end gud lack." the message said, meaning "Keep the swords and good luck.".

What a gift!


	12. Just a rocky island

"I really don't believe that the merchant gave you the swords." commented Crash.

"Neither do I." said Todd.

"Oh, when are we going to arrive to an island?" wondered Flare.

"Hm?" Relic turned his head towards her direction.

"Things are boring on the ship." said the woman. "This is the fifth day since we left Fundom already and we are still talking about the same subject, using the very same words. We figured that Todd was given those two swords for an unknown reason. Period."

"She is right, guys." Relic agreed with Flare.

"Thank you, Relic." she said with smile on her face, only for Relic to pay back with another smile.

"I want to vomit!" commented Crash with an awkward look on his face, only for Relic to throw a bottle at his head. "Ouch!" the bottle hit him.

"Well, I see an island." said Todd while yawning.

"That sounds awesome. I wonder whether we are going to find anybody to join the crew. We have a captain, we have a swordsman who can also navigate, we have a sniper and now we also have a doctor... We need a cook and maybe a shipwright. And a helmsman. And a musician. And a person for the chores. And a pet. And a scout. And a..."

"Oh boy..." Todd took a deep breath.

A few minutes later, the crew had already reached the island. The island was a rocky place and it looked quite small. It was not a very big place and it also lacked trees. It would be a miracle if they found anybody on the island, or that was what Relic thought. It was obvious that, unlike at first, he was disappointed now.

"This place is boring..." he commented.

"Why? We haven't even docked yet." asked Flare.

"Just look at it... It seems to be very small, plus there are no trees at this place. The only thing I can see is that large boulder over there, that is preventing us from watching at the other side of the island." he said.

"Well, we will figure out. Who knows... We might find anybody around." said Crash.

"He is right. I will go and check." said Todd.

"I am coming as well." said Crash.

"Oh, I will have a sunbath at the ship now that you guys are going away." said Flare.

"My stomach! It hurts!" said Relic all of a sudden, making the other men look at him with a twisted look on their eyes.

"As if we don't know..." they thought.

"Anyway, let's go." said Todd and he started running quickly towards the direction of the boulder, followed by Crash.

In a few minutes, the two men reached the place. However, there was not really a passage that could lead to the other side of the island. No matter where the two men looked, they could not really see anything.

"We'd have to dock at the other side of the island, I guess." said Crash.

"No... I doubt that. What if anybody fell from that huge boulder? How would they get back."

"You have a point." said Crash.

"Nope. His point is invalid." a young man walked towards their direction. He looked as young as the two men were. He had white colored hair. He had sunglasses on his eyes and he wore a pink colored shirt with white stripes, white colored pants that barely reached his knees and pink colored shoes. He also wore a white flamboyant feather fur on his back.

"Who are you, weirdo?" asked Todd.

"My name is difficult to spell, so people just call me You." said the weird man with the white hair. His voice was also quite strange, being more pitched than that of a regular human.

"You? That sucks, dude." said Crash.

"Whatever." commented You. "Either way... This place is usually used by the people of the village at the other side for any exiles. This side is full of criminals." said the man.

"What?!" Crash was surprised.

"Hm..." Todd was almost ready to draw one of his swords.

"What?! No, no! I am not a criminal!" said You.

"Then what are you doing here?" asked Todd.

"I just fell here by accident. I am in fact a villager."

"You look weird for a villager."

"I don't accept any criticism from others!" said You. "Now tell me your names!"

"I am Todd." said the swordsman.

"My name is Crash." the sniper also introduced himself.

"Meh, anyway... So what are you suggesting us to do? Shall we leave?" asked Todd.

"Yes. But you should take me along with you at the other side, in case you do so." said You.

"Fine, I guess." agreed Todd.

"Let's head back." said Crash and the three men left from the area.

Meanwhile, at the ship... It had been around fifteen minutes since Relic got into his room, pretending that he suffered from stomachache, just to stay on the ship and watch at Flare who was about to take a sunbath. However, when the man got outside his room, Flare was nowhere to be found.

"Flare?" asked Relic, surprised that the doctor was gone. "Where are you?" he kept asking, while walking on the ship's deck. He walked over there, but by the time he arrived, his eyes twitched and he took an angry expression on his face. "Flare..." he said angrily, when he noticed that the chair she was lying on, while she was taking her sunbath was turned upside down. Flare had been taken by somebody!


	13. Graham the Tyrant

"Damn them!" Relic was running randomly at the beach of the island, searching everywhere for Flare. However, she was nowhere to be found. No matter where he looked, the young doctor was nowhere to be seen. It looked like the culprits behind her kidnapping had actually hidden her quite well.

A few minutes later, though, Relic would be approached by a few people. Those people were none others than Todd, Crash and You, who were walking together at the ship in order to leave.

"Relic! What is going on?" asked Todd, while looking at his furious captain.

"She... She is gone. Somebody took her!" said Relic, his voice anxious as he spoke.

"You mean she got kidnapped?" asked Crash.

"Yes..."

"Oh damn it, it's them again." said You.

"Who are you?" Relic looked at the flamboyant man, surprised.

"I am You."

"No, I am me."

"No, I mean my name is You."

"A weird name you have, but you seem to know stuff." said Relic while grabbing You from the neck. "Speak!"

"Calm down, Relic!" Todd tried to calm down his captain.

"He has done nothing bad!" Crash sided with Todd.

"Thank you, guys..." said You, as soon as Relic let him go. "As I said before, people who got exiled from the other side of the island are getting exiled here. They have formed a gang and they are planning a coup-d-etat at the village at the other side."

"So, you say that Flare has been taken by a bunch of criminals?" asked Todd.

"Yes... Their leader, Graham, used to be a leader in the village... However, he was exiled for being ruthless to his people. He is planning to get to the other side and take down the village completely, before building his own."

"But why would he take Flare? Shouldn't he just steal the ship?" wondered Todd.

"Maybe it's because he figured that she is not alone. He wants you to go after her and set up a trap to you." guessed You.

"That sounds reasonable... But what can we do now?" wondered Crash.

"I will help you get your friend back. After all, you seem to be good people." said You. "I will show you the way to their hideout."

"Oh, no you won't, you traitor!" another voice was heard. There was a man who was just as tall as You, but he was dressed normally. He wore a green colored blouse, blue jeans and green colored shoes. He had dark hair and dark eyes.

"Siffer..." said You with a serious voice.

"You sided with those strangers, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Huh? Are you a friend of his?" asked Relic.

"Kind of... But I don't have anything to do with him, anymore." said You. "It's a long story."

"Traitor!" yelled Siffer once again and he grabbed a gun he was holding below his belt. "Just die!" he attempted to shoot at You, but before he managed to pull the trigger, Crash had already assembled his sniper and he shot a bullet that struck the man at the arm, making him drop his weapon down.

"Wow, that was quick." commented You, surprised.

"What did you expect? The Relic Pirates will be the Pirate King crew eventually." said Crash with a smile on his face.

"Now, bastard..." Relic run towards Siffer, grabbing him from the neck in a similar way he did to You. "Where do you keep Flare and why?" he asked.

"I don't know... Honestly!"

"No... You are lying Siffer... You have no honor to begin with!" said You while looking at his eyes. "I can figure out you are lying."

"Stop acting as if you are smart. If you were, Graham wouldn't be our leader! You are a stupid one." said Siffer.

"Indeed, I am. I am stupid for trusting people like you. How can you forget? Graham was the one to exile us here... I was the one to start our group here so that we could take him down and return to the village... And when the village revolted and he was thrown at this place, you simply followed him!" said You, angered.

"Are you angry just because you are a fail of a leader?"

"I might be failing as a leader but I am not a tyrant like him!" said You, even more angry.

"Chill out, You." said Relic. "That bastard is not going to rule those idiots for long, nor he will manage to achieve his revolt... He got Flare and you seem to be his target for helping us. We have no other choice but to beat him up." the captain continued speaking and he punched Siffer in the face, before dropping him on the beach. "Now. Let's go." he finished and the four men walked away, with You guiding them at the hideout of the captain.

But... When the four men reached a distance from Siffer, he grabbed a Den Den Mushi he was hiding in his pockets. He contacted somebody. "Boss... They were tricked, just as you said." said Siffer.

"Perfect. Right into my trap." a bass voice was heard.

Was he... Graham?!


	14. Graham's plan

"Hm... Something weird is going on." said You, while the four were walking away.

"I have the same feeling." agreed Todd.

"Why would they mess with you and not want to steal your ship and in the same time send one of their men instead of setting up a great trap?" wondered You.

"Hm? I don't understand..." said Crash.

"He says that we might be falling in their trap right now." said Todd.

"Exactly." said You. "You can see what I mean."

"Yes... But we have no other choice but to get to their hideout, don't you think?"

"That's right." said Todd.

Meanwhile, at the hideout of Graham's gang...

Flare is tied to a chair while Graham is walking around her, looking at her with a twisted look on his eyes and an evil smile. Graham has grey colored short hair which move backwards and a cigar. He wears a black suit and a grey fur on his back, dressing himself pretty much like You.

"Why would you take me as a hostage? What do you have to earn?" asked Flare.

"Listen, sweetie... When my men got you, they did not really know how much strong your friend is. If he was stronger, he could probably beat them up and that way, we would never sail to the other side. However, by taking you away, we can just lure them away from the ship so that my men and I shall take it, leaving the four of you and that idiot, You, here." explained Graham.

"My friends will not fall for your trap! You might be smart enough to outsmart our captain, but Todd is going to realize what is going on."

"Todd? That swordsman with the 1,000,000 beri on his head? Pahahahahahaha! Is that your crew?! The Relic Pirates?" asked Graham.

"Yes."

"Funny. It looks like it wasn't really necessary for me to put up a plan. You are a weak crew." commented Graham.

"How do you know about our crew?"

"Well, we are getting newspapers, as well, you know. The delivery birds are flying everywhere." explained Graham.

"Whatever... Be sure that no matter what you come up with, my friends will not fall by your gang!"

"You'd wish so..." said Graham and he grabbed his Den Den Mushi, contacting Siffer.

"Yes, sir?" asked Siffer.

"I got information by that girl. We will change our plan. Those people are a bunch of weaklings, after all. They have a maximum bounty of 4,000,000 on their heads." said the boss.

"Really? It looks like my act was useless." said Siffer, obviously disappointed.

"It doesn't matter... It will be easier for us. There is no need to lure them here. Go after them. I will also dispatch Magruder and Jeck to assist you."

"You really are serious, aren't you?"

"Indeed... I want to get done with these bastards quickly. I really can't wait to put my take-over plan in motion." said the boss.

"I see." Siffer closed the communications and he started running towards the direction the Relic Pirates followed.

At the place of the Relic Pirates, a few minutes later...

"How long will it take?" wondered Crash.

"We need around 20 minutes to reach their basement." said You.

"We have to hurry. Run faster!" Relic increased his speed.

"Chill out, Relic. There might be traps around." was the suggestion of Todd.

"He is right. Graham is a cunning and sly man. Who knows what he was planning when he took your friend away... Oh wait... That's it!" were the words of You.

"Huh?" Relic was surprised.

"Everybody, stop! He wants to lure us away!" said You. "Relic, have you been nearby when your friend was taken?"

"Yes!" said Relic, while gulping.

"That makes sense! She probably called for help and his men got scared. They took her away so that you'd search for her and leave the ship alone!"

"Crap! How did we fall in their trap?!" commented an angry Todd.

"It doesn't matter." Siffer's voice was heard.

"Siffer! You again!" You was surprised to see his former friend.

"You... You were unlucky. You sticked with those three weaklings, huh?"

"It doesn't matter whether they are weaklings or not! At least they do have some morals, unlike you and your boss!" shouted You.

"We figured out their identities, You. They are just a rookie crew. They have no hope against us. Even boss Graham realized that his plan was actually useless."

"Stop speaking like that for that bastard!" yelled You and he grabbed a small dagger he was hiding below his clothes, cutting his right hand a little bit. Blood started coming out and You smiled, while pointing at Siffer.

"Red arrow!" he threw a droplet of blood with great force, which turned into an arrow thanks to the kinetic force.

"You got very serious, didn't you?" asked Siffer who simply moved his head to dodge the attack.

"What is that?! A fruit power?!" Relic was shocked.

"No... It's the exclusive martial art of the island... Blood War. It centers around the manipulation of your own blood." explained You.

"Now, that is interesting." said Todd, while smiling.

"Sorry to interrupt you, You, but there are two people coming." Crash's voice was heard, while the man was looking through his binoculars.

"Huh?!" You was surprised. "What is their appearance?"

"Well... There is one with green colored hair and a sword and another one with yellow hair, carrying two daggers."

"Graham is that serious?!" You was surprised.

"Stop talking and battle me already!" Siffer bit his tongue, making it release droplets of blood. "Bloody Bullet!" he spit his blood, making it move like a bullet towards You's direction.

"ARGH!" You was shot at the shoulder from Siffer's attack.

"Idiot..." commented Siffer, while smiling.

"Listen, guys... Those two are Graham's strongest men, Magruder and Jeck. You have to take care of them no matter what, otherwise your friend and all of us shall be in trouble. And the village as well!" spoke You, his words coming out from his mouth quickly. "If one of us falls... We are going to be in a disadvantage!"

"I see." said Todd. "I will take care of the swordsman."

"And I will deal with the one with the daggers."

"And I will get to the ship. I have to protect it. Their boss might be heading there, already!" said Relic.

"Nice plan. And good luck!" said You while launching another arrow of blood at You, this time a much faster arrow that barely struck him at his right side.

"I can't allow you to leave!" yelled Siffer at Relic, who turned his head, watching at him, only to see an blood bullet coming towards him, striking him at the head.

"Just go!" You jumped in front of the way, taking the bullet instead, this time at his neck.

"Be careful!" said Relic, who run away afterwards.

The battles were about to start. One of them had already started and it was heating up! You versus Siffer!


	15. The failing leader

While going at Graham's hideout, You figured out his plan. He realized that he was trying to lure the Relic Pirates away from the ship, so that he would steal it. However, when he found out about the low bounties of the pirate crew's members, he made a change of plans and he ordered an all-out attack against them. Now, You is involved in a battle already against Siffer, while Todd and Crash are also ready to take on Magruder and Jeck, two of Graham's strongest men.

"They are coming!" yelled Todd at Crash, who had already assembled his sniper.

"I know!" said Crash, while shooting at the man with the daggers. The one carrying the two daggers had yellow hair and a white colored uniform with a white hood. At the chest, there was a lightning symbol printed, at the color of red, matching his eyes color.

"A sniper against me?" the man with the yellow hair laughed. "What can a sniper do against the almighty Jeck?" he wondered.

"Jeck is your name, huh?" asked Crash.

"Indeed." replied the dagger user.

"So, I guess you are Magruder, correct?" Todd made a question to the swordsman with the green hair, who wore a black buttoned coat that reached his knees and dark boots.

"Am I that famous?" he commented with a smile on his face.

"Yes, you are. At least to You." said Todd.

"Oh, You... That idiot. Well, he is a strong one, but not as strong as boss Graham. Too bad he decided to not side with him. If he did, he'd also rule the village." commented Magruder.

"Don't call my friend an idiot!" Todd rushed at Magruder and attempted to slash him, unsheathing his Safuaia.

"Is that sword Safuaia?!" Magruder was surprised.

"Hm? You know about my sword?" asked Todd.

"Every awesome swordsman must know about the Daiyamondo Swords of the four Blues..." said Magruder.

"Hmph. It looks like I am going to have fun. Safuaia can't wait to collide with your sword."

"Hehe." Magruder laughed.

Meanwhile, at the ship...

"Hey! Wait!" yelled Relic, as the ship departed.

"Relic! Help!" Flare's voice was heard from the deck.

"You are way too slow, captain. Pahahahahahahahaha!" laughed Graham, who was standing at the ship's figurehead, which was representing bull.

"I won't let you have my ship... And I won't let you get Flare with you! You bastard!" shouted Relic, while running towards the direction of the giant boulder that was blocking the way to the other side of the island.

"Have you gone nuts?! There is no passage to the other way!" said Graham.

"I will make one!" said Relic with an angry voice while leaving.

"You are a funny one." said Graham and then he turned towards his subordinates who were busy, moving the ship. "Quicker!" he ordered.

You versus Siffer

"You think you can match me?" asked Siffer.

"Of course I will... Do you forget that my mastery over the Blood War is the second after Graham's?" he said with his pitched voice.

"Bullshit. I have trained to surpass you. The last time we faced each other, I didn't really use all of my strength."

"You didn't?"

"Of course I didn't... I was waiting for this moment... I was waiting for the moment of the revolt to take you down for ignoring me as your right hand!"

"You were my right hand, Siffer... You were until you sided with that scumbag!"

"I sided with him because you are a loser! You were never worthy of being the leader of Burado Village!"

"How can you say these things to your own older brother?! How could you side with that bastard that exiled you here right after killing our father?!" yelled You.

"And how can you face your younger brother, You?! Don't you remember the promise you gave to our father?! You promised that you would always protect your little brother, no matter what."

"That promise doesn't matter anymore. Our father would never call a bastard like you, his son. You went with Graham just because of your own benefits, ignoring that he has harmed our village more than any other person in the world. He is worse than pirates!"

"I will be the king when he passes out... He promised me. Why should I stick to being at the sideway when I can be the boss eventually?!" asked Siffer.

"Idiot. I hate you!" said You while cutting his other hand as well, letting more blood come outside his body. "Red arrows!" he threw his signature attack, this time in the form of barrages.

"Blood Bullets!" Siffer spit bullets of blood, which struck the arrows, making the attacks nullify each other.

"You are pathetic, little brother! You are a pathetic idiot!" yelled You while pointing at his little brother with his palm. He frowned angrily and with a frozen serious look on his face, he moved his fist forward, launching another attack. A small ball of blood was thrown at Siffer, with great speed, much like his arrows, but with greater radius than the arrows.

"What is that?! How much blood did you put in that attack?!" Siffer was surprised.

"Red Blast!" You did not really bother explaining and he simply looked with an emotionless face as the ball of blood struck Siffer and made him fall on the ground.

"You... Bastard!" said Siffer while getting up. "This is not the end, you know!" were his words, before he started licking the air circularly, creating a small circle of blood which was thrown at You, with greater speed than You's previous attack. You barely dodged the attack by moving at the left, but when Siffer noticed that, he started performing more and more of the previous attack, eventually striking You. "Blood Circle." he named his attack, while looking at his damaged brother.

"I agree about the end. Things have not ended yet." commented You.

"Now they are about to end! Blood Line!" were Siffer's words as he stabbed the air with his tongue, letting out a long line from his mouth that looked like a small in terms of size beam.

"Brother..." thought You and a year fell from his face.

[Flashback]

Ten years ago, at Burado Village, everything seemed to be great. The people were all happy and there was not really any trouble. The king at that time, Vans, was the most liked ruler of the village. The people admired him for his strength and he was the most caring leader ever since the forming of the village. At the village's square, there was a grand statue of the king, which the citizens proudly looked.

And right below that statue, there was a tall man looking at it. He had white colored hair and he wore a white feather fur on his back. He also wore a white tuxedo and a golden watch.

"Your majesty!" a citizen looked at the king and greeted him. "How are you?"

"Hm?" Vans turned his head, looking at the man that greeted him. "I am fine. Thank you." he replied.

"I am glad that you are fine." the citizen smiled. "What are you doing outside your home?" he asked.

"Well... I decided to take a stroll with my two sons and my two bodyguards. It has been a while since we looked at the sun and played together."

"I see. Have a nice d-" said the citizen but before he completed his sentence, one of the two bodyguards moved in front of him and slapped him.

"He is your king. You should bow." said the bodyguard.

"Graham! Stop it!" said the king.

"He should respect you, your majesty!"

"Stop harming my citizens! I have warned you several times already!" he raised his voice. "Now, don't make me yell in front of my children."

"Sorry." Graham apologized and moved his head downwards.

"Excuse my bodyguard." the king also apologized to the citizen.

"Erm... Okay, your majesty."

"The king is right Graham. You should not treat our citizens like that!" the other bodyguard spoke. "It is our duty to protect the king for their shake, not for the king's shake." he finished speaking. That man was a short man, around the age of the king. He had spikey black colored hair and he wore a black armor with black pants and black colored shoes. He also carried a spear.

"That's enough, both of you! Stop talking crap like that! A king should be feared by his citizens, same for his army. If you are not capable of doing that, you are not worthy of being the king!" yelled the bodyguard.

"What does he say, daddy?" asked a young Siffer to his father.

"Nothing to worry about, son. Graham, stop raising your voice or you will be suspended for a lifetime." the king warned his subordinate.

"I have taken enough of this shit. Soldiers!" he raised his voice and many soldiers appeared around the group, including Magruder and Jeck, all of this in front of the citizens who were horrified at the view of the incident. "Today is the fall of the king and the rise of a new one!"

"What?!" the king was surprised.

"Sorry, Vans. You are not my king anymore." said Graham and he rushed at the king, unsheathing his sword and slashing his neck.

"DAD!" the two kids, Siffer and You, yelled.

"Son... Take care... of your little brother." the king said.

"I... promise." the older brother promised and the king died with a smile on his face.

"Soldiers! Burn the statue! Take the children away and throw them at the other side! Same for the "loyal bodyguard" Jay. Today is the start of the new emperor!"

[Flashback ends]

"I am sorry dad. I have to break my promise." whispered You while grabbing his hands with his other hand. "Red... Beam." he said and he launched a beam of blood that ultimately overpowered the small line of blood that Siffer created, striking his body completely and making fall on the ground, completely damaged and unable to move.

"Brother... How could you?"

"You are an idiot... I created the gang to eventually overthrow Graham and make you the future leader of the village. As you said, I fail as a leader." said You, while walking away slowly, probably because of the blood he used during the battle.

"What?!" Siffer was shocked.

"When Graham was defeated by Jay a few years after his tyranny started, I was happy. We... We could avenge our father and you could have the throne you deserved. Jay fought for our father's name and brought us that bastard. However, you chose to side with him. I am sorry. You are not my brother anymore. You deserve the exile."

You finished his battle against his younger brother and he emerged victorious! Now, the battles of Todd and Crash remain! And what about Relic! Will he manage to break the boulder that separates the island in two parts and take on Graham?!


	16. The lucky sniper

"Hm... I want this battle to not be interrupted by your friend. Shall we move away?" asked Todd politely.

"I see. Fair enough." agreed Magruder. "Let's go somewhere else." he said and the two men left from the place, leaving Crash and Jeck all alone.

"It looks like we are alone." commented Crash.

"Yes, we are." said Jeck.

"Nice." Crash smiled before raising his sniper quickly and firing at Jeck, striking him at the chest.

"That hurt... You bastard. I was off-guard."

"I know. That's why I did it."

"You don't have any honor as a fighter, do you?"

"Snipers shouldn't have any honor. If I was a martial artist, then I guess I could have some. But I am afraid that I don't when I carry my sniper." explained Crash.

"Bullshit. No matter how you battle, I am going to defeat you."

"I am waiting." said Crash.

"Let's see..." the dagger user vanished and reappeared in front of Crash. "I am the fastest out of all the people at Graham's force. I am called "Yellow Flash" Jeck." he said and he attempted to stab Crash with both daggers.

"No way!" Crash was surprised and he placed his sniper in front of the daggers, blocking the attack.

"Wow... Your sniper is good. My daggers couldn't pierce it." commented Jeck.

"I know." said Crash while smiling and he pointed with the sniper towards Jeck, pulling the trigger.

"Crap!" Jeck jumped out of the way quickly, dodging the attack. Then, he landed on the ground again and he swung the dagger he carried with his right hand horizontally, barely slashing Crash at the chest.

"Ouch!"

"That hurt, huh?"

"Just joking, dude."

"You think that's funny, huh?"

"Yeap."

"Hahaha. I hate you." said Jeck with a smile on his face.

"Me too." Crash paid back the smile as he started firing his sniper rapidly, only for Jeck to dodge the attacks with ease due to his great speed.

"Are you crazy? You have no more bullets." said Jeck, after Crash's bullets were fired.

"That was my plan." said Crash while smiling. He placed a bullet inside his sniper, afterwards and he shot himself, much to the shock of his enemy. "Caffeine Bullet." he said, after he shot himself.

"Huh?! Seriously?!"

"Yesssssss... Caffeine is great for my nerves... It makes me a better fighter."

"Let's see how good you are." said Jeck, before disappearing once again, reappearing behind Crash. "Dagger Stab!" he attempted to stab Crash.

"HA!" Crash swung his sniper as if it was a bat while turning at Jeck, striking him at the head and sending him away.

"..." Jeck's eyes momentarily turned white.

"The fact that I am a sniper doesn't mean that I can't fight from a close distance." explained Crash who run at Jeck's direction.

"Sniper Bat!" he slammed the heavy sniper at the enemy's head once again.

"No way!" the dagger user screamed and got up immediately. "Dagger Dance!". The moment he named his next technique, he started vanishing, reappearing to other random spots. While the technique was impossible to catch with the eye, Jeck seemed to be unable to control where he would reappear, making this a bad technique if there were any allies around.

"That's why your friend left, huh? Poor Todd, he thinks that Magruder made him a favor." said Crash. "Now, to end this..." he placed a bullet at his sniper. "Where shall I shoo-" he said, but before he completed his sentence, he was slashed by the enemy deeply.

"Did you like it?" said Jeck while stopping using his technique.

"Definitely, I didn't." Crash coughed some blood.

"Let's see if you can handle this again. Dagger Dance!" Jeck used the same technique.

"Damn it... My eye cannot catch up with him..." thought Crash. "I have to be careful when firing my shot." he kept thinking. "Now to end this..."

"Hm? You think you can strike me, huh?" shouted Jeck while still using his technique.

"I do. I just need some luck." said the sniper while pulling the trigger.

"ARGH!" Jeck was hit.

"See? I was lucky." laughed Crash as Jeck fell on the ground unconscious.

Another win for the Relic Pirates!


	17. The teaching swordsman

"Now, now... Is this a nice place?" asked Magruder to Todd.

"Well, it's a rocky place but I really can't see anything else except from sand around... So fair enough." replied the swordsman of the Relic Pirates.

"Shall we begin?" asked the enemy.

"Sure." said Todd while smiling.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Magruder rushed at Todd, while unsheathing his sword. "Let's see what Safuaia can do!"

"It can do a lot, trust me. Let's start with the basics!" said Todd while moving his sword horizontally, blocking the attack of the enemy swordsman. "First, it can protect me from enemy slashes."

"Pretty good."

"Now... Secondly..." said Todd while jumping high on the air and landing right behind Magruder. "It allows me to attack my enemies with powerful slashes." he finished his sentence and he swung his sword, only for Magruder to turn behind and block the swinging sword with a vertical stance of his own sword, whose edge was pointing on the ground.

"Sword Shield!" said Magruder, naming his defensive technique.

"Hmph." Todd leaped back and pointed with Safuaia at Magruder.

"Sword Drill!" he rushed at him with his sword spinning around like a drill.

"Weird! Sword Shield!" Magruder tried to defend himself in a similar way like before. At first, it actually worked. However, as Todd was spinning the sword, it moved slightly above Magruder's sword blade and it allowed Todd to slightly stab his enemy.

"Damn it." said Magruder, noticing the blood that came outside his chest.

"That is the third lesson. Every sword has to adapt to any situation."

"I see. You are a good teacher. But I have another lesson to teach you."

"Hm?"

"You shouldn't completely base your battling style at your sword. Just look." said Magruder and he bathed his sword with his own blood that came outside his chest.

"What are you doing?" asked Todd.

"Just look..." said Magruder, who eventually coated his sword with his blood.

"Are you using Blood War, as well?" asked Todd.

"Of course."

"Let's see how you are using it, then." said Todd.

"Ha! Bloody Sword!" were the words of Magruder, who run at Todd and attempted to slash him.

"Sword Shield!" Todd used the technique that Magruder used before.

"Are you copying me?" asked Magruder with curiosity.

"Lesson four. Learn as much as you can from your enemies."

"Sounds fine, I guess." said Magruder.

"Damn it... Although I don't want to admit it, that slash was more powerful than his previous ones. I could feel my hands shaking when our swords collided."

"Blood Wave!" Magruder swung his sword afterwards and a blood slash, similar to an air blade but with a red color, was created and launched against Todd.

"Let's see if I can block it." thought Todd and he attempted to use the Sword Shield technique once more. But, surprisingly, it didn't actually work. Even if he managed to block a part of the technique, the rest of the slash kept moving forward, resulting in Todd having his left hand cut in many different places, as he attempted to protect himself with it when he noticed that the sword shield technique was incapable of protecting him against the blood projectile attack.

"That sucked, didn't it?"

"It did." said Todd while taking a deep breath.

"Let's see if you can handle more of these, teacher." said Magruder ironically, as he used a barrage form of his previous technique.

"What?! Seriously?!" Todd was surprised. "I guess I have to use my full speed..."

"Hm? Where are you?" Magruder noticed that Todd was gone.

"I am behind you." said Todd while sheathing his sword. "I went through all your barrages, I cut you down and now I am about to sheathe my sword, you know. You were slow." were the words of the swordsman.

"You did?" asked Magruder with a smile on his face.

"Yes. Sword Hurricane." the swordsman of the Relic Pirates sheathed his sword and a deem wound appeared at Magruder's chest, right before his blood sprayed the whole area and his sword fell on the ground.

"Impossible..." Magruder's eyes twitched as he fell on the ground, right next to his sword.

"Lesson five over the art of the sword. Don't mess with me." said Todd and he started walking away, hoping to reunite with his friends.

Meanwhile, at Burado Village's palace... A soldier is walking and approaches a man sitting on the throne that appears to be none other than Jay.

"Sir! A ship is arriving and Graham is standing on its deck!"

"Huh?! How?! Impossible?!" the former bodyguard and now king was shocked. "How did he make one? The island lacks any trees, even here."

"I don't know, sir but something must have happened at the other side. Maybe people arrived and he stole it from them."

"I see. Prepare the army to guard the village. We will probably be under attack!" he yelled.

Graham is approaching! What is going to happen next?!


	18. The rain of rocks

"Graham! What happened at the other side?" asked Jay, who was already at the beach where the former tyrant left the ship.

"Oh, Jay... You came to greet me, didn't you? How nice of you..."

"Enough with this. Just tell me what happened!"

"Why don't you go and figure out after I beat you down? Soldiers! Get to the village and kill any soldier you find. We are taking back this place!" said Graham.

"Yes, sir." the soldiers nodded and they all left.

"It looks like you were lucky... I can figure out that pirates arrived at the place. You stole their ship, didn't you?"

"You are a smart one, Jay, just like You."

"How is You? What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything... But his stupid little brother will. He is with me now." Graham smiled.

"What?! Prince Siffer? Why?"

"He knew that there was no other way to become the king, except from siding with me. I promised him the throne in case I died." Graham grinned.

"Huh?! Is he working for you?"

"That's what I just said... Sadly enough, he will never get here to see me ruling this place. And he will never actually have a chance to become the king. I am going to hand over my kingdom to my future, beautiful kids."

"Kids? Do you think there is any woman that would ever marry you?"

"No... But I kidnapped my future wife. She is beautiful enough to have my kids." he said, while pointing at Flare, who was tied on a chair at the ship's deck.

"You twisted bastard!" Jay started moving towards Graham, pointing with his spear.

"You are older than me and weaker. I trained for years for this moment. Ever since you defeated me and dumped me at the other side, I dreamed about this moment every day." were the words of Graham, who blocked the spear with his bare hands.

"..." Jay had no words to speak.

"I will not kill you, don't worry. I will exile you along with your dear princes." said Graham.

"Damn!" Jay gulped.

At the same time, at the other side... You is walking by himself, moving towards the direction of Crash.

"Hey, Crash." he raised his bloody hand and waved at the sniper of the Relic pirates.

"Hey, dude." Crash started walking at You's direction. "How are... You?" he asked and he started laughing.

"That's not funny, YOU know..."

"That's not funny, YOU knows, You should have said." Crash kept trolling You.

"Whatever. I see you are okay."

"Yes... I was hit a little bit, but I am fine." explained Crash.

"Same here." said You with his pitched voice. "What about Todd? Where is he?"

"He is probably coming... He went somewhere with his enemy. They didn't want to battle around us. My enemy had a weird technique that prevented him from targeting. He could strike his friend."

"Oh, Jeck, I forgot." said You. "But how can you be sure that Todd won?" he asked.

"That is because I am here." Todd arrived at the scene.

"You also won, huh?" You was surprised.

"Indeed."

"It looks like you are not the guys Graham expected you to be. What about Relic?"

"Oh Relic... I forgot about him." said Crash while scratching his head.

"He is probably figuring out a way to deal with the enemy, if he hasn't yet. I am quite positive that they sticked to their original plan and stole the ship, if he hasn't showed up yet." explained Todd.

"What?! That means that the village is in danger!"

"Relax. Our captain will figure out something. He will not let them have Flare."

"I hope s-" said You, but before he completed his sentence, a loud sound was heard. He turned his head along with the rest of the others and the eyes of the three popped out immediately, even Todd's. The three men were surprised with what their eyes had just noticed.

Meanwhile at the place of Graham...

Jay is lying on the ground and he is almost unconscious. He can barely look around and speak.

"How does it feel, Jay?" asked Graham with an evil voice, before the same sound disturbed him, at the same time that it disturbed the other three. BAM! "What the..." he asked and he raised his eyes, only to notice a rain of rocks. The giant boulder that separated the two parts of the island was broken into millions of small rocks!

Back at the spot of Todd, Crash and You.

"See?" Todd had already calmed down and tried to calm down You, whose jaw had just dropped on the ground. "I told you our captain would figure out something.

"GRAHAM! I AM COMING TO KICK YOUR BUTT!" Relic's voice echoed through the whole island!

"You pest!" Graham's eyes twitched, revealing his fear.

Relic was preparing for the counter attack! And how did he break the boulder anyway?!


	19. A tyrant's fall

"I AM COMING!" yelled Relic while running towards the direction of the village.

"HOW DID HE DO IT?!" both You and Crash wondered.

"That is my captain." thought Todd.

"I am in trouble." Graham gulped. "I underestimated those children."

"Relic!" Flare only shouted the captain's name.

"Who did this anyway?" wondered Jay with a smile on his face, before letting out one final breath before falling unconscious.

"I have to hurry and do this quickly!" Graham rushed towards the direction of the broken boulder.

"He is obviously scared by this point... All I have to do is to give everything I have. I doubt he can match me at full power." thought Relic, and other similar things, while running towards the direction of the village.

Eventually, the two men met each other, from a close distance this time.

"So... You are Relic with the bounty of 3,000,000, huh?" Graham asked when he finally looked at the young man with the slightly tan skin and the dark colored curly hair.

"That's right." Relic moved in front of Graham and punched him in the face, breaking his nose with one punch.

"That hurt! That hurt!" complained Graham as his nose started bleeding. However, while the blood came outside his body, it started surrounding Graham's clothes and face, steadily turning into an armor that was made of solid blood. "It doesn't matter. It just allowed me to use my Blood Emperor technique more easily."

"Are you capable of doing this, as well? That sucks... It makes You look less awesome."

"Positively."

"Just shut up! I didn't ask for your opinion regarding my friend!" Relic rushed at the enemy and punched him at the chest with great force, making him slide backwards.

"You should." Graham created a sword out of his own blood. "Bloody Slash!" he attempted to slash Relic.

"Hmph." Relic rolled away from the attack and immediately striked back, this time with the kick at the enemy's spine. Although the man was protected with his own blood, the kick was powerful enough to damage his spine, revealing the outstanding strength of the captain.

"I won't fall down again! My plan did not even succeed yet!" the former tyrant complained and he run at Relic's direction, punching him in the face with his blood enhanced punch.

"Ouch!" Relic was hurt, but he would ignore the pain to raise his foot and strike the enemy with a roundhouse kick. "You bastard... I will make you bleed right below that stupid blood armor you have, for kidnapping Flare and messing with me and my friends." spoke Relic with a dead serious voice.

"Argh... I... just... Won't let you defeat me!" yelled Graham who would generate the blood that was covering him right above his head, making it take the shape of a small ogre, twice the size he had. The blood ogre had two big horns and large hands, much larger than Graham's. "Blood Ogre!"

"You are the ogre, here!" Relic's rage erupted with a quick movement in front of Graham, right before punching him in the face with many similar punches.

"Blood Palm!" the ogre moved its hand and slapped Relic, its hand being being enough to move the captain out of the way and sending him many meters away.

"That was nothing!" Relic immediately got up and took his battling stance again.

"You think so? Blood Headbutt!" the ogre moved its bloody spine downwards, slamming Relic with its head.

"I told you I would make you bleed to death!" Relic yelled, still looking fine.

"That's impossible!" Graham was shocked.

"That is for You... And I don't mean you." Relic run at Graham and performed a powerful kick at Graham's chest, making him fall on the ground and separating him from the giant blood ogre.

"That was your mistake. Blood Lake!" the blood ogre fell on the ground and it turned into a big lake of blood that surrounded the area.

"You want to be bathed in your own blood? Fair enough." Relic grabbed him from the neck and started slamming him on the ground violently, until his face would be bruised to the point that nobody could recognize him.

"Let... me... go..." Graham could barely speak.

"Pfft." Relic spit at his face before dropping him down on the ground and kicking him away, making him slam on a small rock boulder. "Are you pleased now?" he asked ironically, but Graham could not really answer. He was down for good and from the looks of it, Relic clearly overpowered him as if he was nothing.

"Relic!" Todd, Crash and You shouted as they approached the scene.

"Who is that guy?" asked You.

"That is Graham." said Relic while turning his back at the three men. "LISTEN UP EVERYBODY!" he yelled, afterwards. "YOUR BOSS GRAHAM HAS BEEN DEFEATED! IF YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO END UP LIKE HIM, JUST HIDE BEFORE I FIND YOU AND TEACH YOU THE SAME LESSON I TAUGHT HIM!" he yelled afterwards, his voice echoing across the island like before. "You... I will be waiting for you at my ship. I will go and see whether Flare is okay." he finished speaking.

"Huh? You want me to join your crew?"

"Of course."

"What if I decline?"

"If you do, you will probably end up like your enemy."

"Seriously?"

"No, I am joking." replied Relic.

"Phew."

"Or maybe I am not joking."

"..." You gulped.

"Meh, just joking." Relic finished his stupid joke before walking away. The three men followed him, afterwards.

At the place around the ship, Jay was conscious. He was sitting on a chair, talking with Flare, whom he freed.

"Flare!" Relic smiled as soon as he realized that she was fine.

"Is that guy your captain?" asked Jay with curiosity.

"Yes, that's him..." said Flare.

"Thank you!" Jay fell on his knees and he started crying. "You finally stopped the madness of Graham. From now on, Burado Village will be safe!"

"Relax. I didn't do anything important. That guy was weak compared to me." the young man did not really want to boast about his achievement.

"Jay!" You run towards his direction.

"You... You have grown up. I see you have a feather fur, like your father did."

"Yes. It makes me feel like he is around me, watching at me." explained You.

"You are emotional, as always." Jay smiled.

"I am... At the other side, there are Siffer's, Magruder's and Jeck's unconscious bodies. Send the soldiers to take them into custody." suggested You.

"Whatever you say, king." Jay bowed before You. "I was waiting for this day and so I have already prepared jail cells for Graham and his friends."

"KING?!" Relic, Crash and Flare were surprised, but nobody really bothered explaining them.

"Perfect. However, I have to correct you." said You, while the three men of the Relic Pirates looked at him with a smile on their faces.

"What is it?" asked Jay with curiosity.

"I am not going to be the king. I am pretty sure you are a great ruler. I... I will set sail along with the Relic Pirates."

"You'll do what?!" Jay was surprised.

"I am indebted to Relic. I cannot decline his offer. That would be a shame for me." explained You.

"I see... It's okay, then." said Jay.

"Just... Take care of Siffer while he's in the prison, okay?" asked the prince.

"I will." Jay smiled. "Always caring about your little brother, huh?"

"I made a promise to dad." said You while jumping on the ship. "I have nothing to take so... let's go!" he said.

"Hey, don't order us!" Crash complained.

"Sorry." You apologized. However, that was not the last time he would order the other members of the crew...

The crew members were now five!


	20. The island of forests, Wudu Island

After the last battle outside Burado Village, Relic finally defeated Graham and put an end in his revolt. With Flare freed and with You as the latest crew member, the Relic Pirates set sail afterwards, heading for another island... With You on the helm, as he was unable to do anything else, the crew got a helmsman and from the looks of it, You seemed to be a quite capable one...

"This is fun." commented You while steering the ship.

"Of course it is. As long as I don't do it myself, it's fun." said Crash.

"Just do something, you lazy prick!" Flare punched Crash at the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH... What is going on?" Relic yawned while getting outside his cabin.

"Nothing to worry about." Todd jumped from the lookout. "I see an island on our way."

"Another island? That quickly?" wondered Relic.

"Oh, it's the neighbor island of my home island... Wudu Island."

"Wudu Island? I have never heard of it." said Relic.

"Yes. We had an affair with that island around 20 years ago, before my father became the king of our village. The relationship between our islands was very tense.." explained You.

"Why so?" asked Todd with curiosity.

"Wudu Island is full of wood, which my home island lacks, while my island is full of stone and marble, which they need at Wudu Island as the place is full of forests. We were trading marble for wood, but they decided to put an end to our agreement and started buying marble from another island, leaving my village without wood." said You.

"I see."

"I guess you can ask them why they did so." spoke Relic.

"Never! I am a proud member of Burado Village! There is no way I will talk to those scumbags who cannot keep their word!"

"But you will be alone at the ship... Think about it..." complained Relic.

"I don't care!" You was angered.

"Fine... Just stay on the ship."

"That is okay, I guess." You agreed.

Eventually, the crew finally arrived at the island and they docked the ship before everybody except from You got down to explore the place. While You would move back to his cabin to rest, the others would take a stroll around the place and see what was going on. After all, the island was great for sightseeing. There were numerous different trees, it was a real pleasure for anybody that stared at them. All the green leaves which were shining because of the bright sun, combined with the warm weather were making everybody have a great time, even if they were standing on the island only for a few minutes.

"Now, what shall we do?" asked Relic.

"We can stay here and relax." suggested Flare.

"I will search for the town, I guess." said Todd.

"Hm... I will explore the forest." were Crash's words.

"I am coming with you." Flare decided to follow him.

"Ah, that only leaves me... I guess I will search for fruits through the forest. We need food, don't we?" asked the captain, acting as if he was about to do anything important, while the truth was that everybody knew that he would just lie down on the ground in front of a tree and take a nap.

"Okay!" the three subordinates agreed before they started separating their paths.

A few minutes later att the town, there are a few people walking around the main street. All those people are making the citizens tremble in front of their pressence. They are all familiar figures, notorious pirates of West Blue. One of them is a man whose age is difficult to understand, wearing a mask on his head and carrying a scythe on his back, while also wearing a dark robe that makes him look like a reaper.

"Jensen "The Reaper"." people whispered to each other, so that they would warn each other.

Behind the man, there is also another weirdly dressed man. He is a short slim man, with a large pumpkin hat and a wide smile on his face. He is wearing a green cloak on his back, a black tight uniform with the word "Man" written on the chest, and green boxing gloves.

"Kaboo "The Pumpkinman!" the people kept whispering and pointed towards his direction.

"And there are more. Dentus "The Jaw", Uriel "The Angel" and Handrix "The Guitarist!". They are the top members of the Freak Pirates!" a man named the five pirates but when he did so, a marine walked in front of their way.

"Hm... Pirates." another man commented with a serious look on his face. He was a tall man, full of muscle, with light blue colored hair and cyan colored eyes. He wore the standard marine uniform, a uniform that all the low ranked soldiers used to wear, but he also carried two wooden tonfas, one on each hand.

"Who are you? Don't you understand who we are?" asked the captain, Jensen, with a serious look on his eyes that were painted around with a black paint, the only part of his face that could be seen because of the mask.

"Don't look at me with those eyes, you freak." said the marine while taking a battle stance.

"Get away!" yelled the people from around, who were frightened. They were all running away, trying to avoid getting hit by the two men, as a brawl was about to start soon.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Jensen laughed and he rushed at the marine in an attempt to strike him with his scythe.

"How weak." commented the marine while lowering his upper body, dodging the swinging scythe attack and he moved the tonfa of his left hand with great force forward, striking Jensen at the stomach, making him fall on his knees. Then, he raised his left leg and he performed a kicking attack with his heel at the man's head, making him fall unconscious.

"Jensen!" the members of Jensen's crew were surprised.

"Pirates should be arrested, if not slayed." commented the marine while rushing at the other four pirates.

At the same time, at the entrance of the town...

"It looks like I found it." thought Todd while entering in the town, only to notice that there were many people running, in order to hide. "Hm?" he was surprised.

Who is the mysterious marine and how strong is he? And why did he attack the pirates? Another mystery arised at the new station of the Relic Pirates!


	21. Marime Commander Zred Palmer

By the time Todd arrived at the town, he realized that something weird was actually going on. There were people running around like crazy, prompting the first mate and navigator of the Relic Pirates to ask what happened. He looked at a person that was running and he stepped in front of his path, making him stop.

"Excuse me." said Todd.

"Get away. I have to hide." said the man.

"What is going on?" asked Todd.

"There is a marine battling the Freak Pirates at the main street of the town!"

"Freak Pirates?" Todd was surprised.

"Haven't you heard of them before?!" said the man, while taking deep breaths quickly, as he was running for a while.

"I do know them..."

"Those bastards have raided several places according to the newspapers... They are very powerful! Their captain even has a bounty of 12,000,000 beri on his head. Jensen "The Reaper". That guy is a monster!" said the islander.

"I have heard, but I am pretty sure it's all lies..." commented Todd. "I guess I got to go." said the swordsman and he started running towards the direction of the main street.

Meanwhile at the forest...

Flare and Crash were walking together, exploring the place and the various different trees the island happened to have. There were banana trees, there were apple trees, orange trees, peach trees and several others with juicy and delicious fruits.

"Relic should come with us if he wanted to collect any fruits really." said Crash while laughing.

"Yes, he should have come..." agreed Flare while taking a deep breath.

"Hm?" Crash turned his head and frowned with a smile on his eyes.

"WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!" she yelled at Crash for looking at her like that.

"What!? Nothing!" Crash apologized but while he did so, Flare picked up a few fruits around and she started throwing them at him one after another, making him run in order to avoid them.

"IDIOT!" she kept yelling at him, while the sniper was running through the forest.

"Stop it! I apologized already!" he shouted while running but as he run, a peach was launched at his head, striking him and making him fall on the ground with the chest, sliding a few meters forward.

"Seriously, why are we waiting here?" Crash heard a man's voice from behind some bushes when he stopped sliding.

"What the..." he thought and he slid his body a little bit more to hide himself and he raised his head to look behind the bushes.

"What are you doing?" Flare was about to ask from afar but Crash quickly raised his finger in front of his nose, making her realize that she should not speak. "Right." she stopped speaking so that Crash could listen better.

"Well, don't you know Zred?" another man's voice was heard, answering to the question that was asked before. "He wants to do his job by himself."

"Doesn't he trust us?" wondered the man who asked before.

"It's not that... He just wants to show that he is capable enough of having a better rank than he currently has. How do you think he climbed up to the rank of Commander that quickly lately?" said the second man.

"Commander?" Crash thought.

"But that's not fair." a third man spoke.

"Yeah, that's right." more voices were heard.

"If he thinks that he can do stuff by himself, then he shouldn't have become a Marine. He should have been a Bounty Hunter." the first man yelled again, making Crash realize that the men behind the bushes were marines. He raised his head completely this time, looking at all the man and he understood that he was right. There was no doubt. There were marines at the area.

"Damn." he thought and he tried to hide again.

"Hm? Who are you?" before he actually hid again, he was noticed by one of the marines. Oh boy...

In the town...

The marine is standing above the five defeated people, prepared to tie all of them. He has a smile on his face, a smile that came along with his easy victory over the five men, overshadowing his serious behavior over dealing with them.

"Just who are you?" asked Jensen the man.

"Me?" replied the man with a serious tone in his voice. "Why do you need my name?"

"I just want to know."

"Well, then... Tell those who are going to ask you who caught you, that Zred Palmer was the one to arrest you." the man gave away his name.

"Zred Palmer? I will remember your name."

"I have heard that thousands of times already." replied Zred.

"Just leave them alone." a voice was heard from behind.

Zred did not really reply. He turned his head, only to see who was the one to ask that question. He slowly moved it, only to look at the man with the blond hair, the black tuxedo and the three swords, as well as the black sandals, who was not in the mood of making any jokes at that moment.

"Aren't you "Black Sandal" Todd?" asked Zred while scratching his head.

"That is right." said Todd.

Todd at the rescue of the Freak Pirates?! What was going on?!


	22. Free Pirates

Todd encountered the mysterious marine commander Zred for some reason. Why did he do so?!

"You..." the members of the Freak Pirates were surprised.

"Shall I ask what you are doing here, Black Sandal?" asked Zred.

"I came here randomly. But why would the marines and the Freak Pirates be here?"

"I was tracking those people for quite a while. You see, I wanted to take them into custody so that I could be promoted to a captain. For weeks, I am always behind their rails, but every time I arrived to an island, they would have already left... They were not that lucky this time, though. I found them and defeated them. And the same I am about to do with another crew..." explained Zred.

"I see... Those idiots are unable to do anything by themselves, are they?" he asked.

"Huh? Do you know them?" asked the marine with curiosity.

"I think I do..." replied Todd.

[Flashback]

A few years ago on a pirate ship, there are several people running around the deck, all of them moving together, sailing across West Blue.

"Captain Free, where shall we go?" asked a tall man with a sword at his waist. He had long dark hair, dark eyes and he wore a tuxedo, much like in the same way that Todd wears it. He also wore white sandals.

"We are heading for Illusia Kingdom of course! That is going to be our last station before we finally arrive at the Grand Line! Oh man... It's been a while since I was so excited over my journey." said the captain. The captain was a medium in terms of height figure with brown colored hair that were covered with a pirate hat. He had a brown moustache, dark brown eyes and a smile on his face which he would never take off. He had a grey blouse, a pair of jeans and grey colored shoes, as well as a captain's coat on his back that carried the jolly roger of the crew, a skull with a brown colored moustache like the captain's.

"The truth is that we are sailing for a while. We are finally going to conquer the world." said the swordsman with a smile on his face.

"That's right, Morg. Ten years after the death of the previous pirate king, a new pirate king shall arise and that will be me!" the captain laughed and everybody from around started cheering, except from six kids who were standing at the edge of the ship, playing with their wooden weapons.

"Hm? Why are you not cheering kids?" asked Morg.

"Let the kids play, Morg. Hahahahahaha!" the captain laughed.

"No, Mr. Morg is right, captain Free." a blond kid that carried a wooden sword replied. "We should have some discipline."

"Nahhhhhhhhhh. You should be carefree, Todd." another kid talked to the young apprentice. That kid had dark colored hair which were pointing upwards and paintings around his eyes. Also, he had a mask which was tied around his neck and a wooden scythe. He also wore a big dark robe, that was twice his size.

"You are stupid, Jensen. I really wonder what kind of pirate you will become when you grow up." commented Todd.

"I don't know what Jensen is going to become... But I will be a super hero!" said another boy. That boy was a quite slim one, dressed with dark green clothes. He was carrying a pumpkin, which he used to eat.

"A super hero? And what will your powers be, Kaboo?" asked Todd with a smile on his face.

"I don't know." he said and he turned his head around, looking at stuff to think of anything to say. Then, he looked at the pumpkin he carried and smiled. "I only know my name... People will call me Pumpkinman!"

"That is the lamest name for a super hero." said Todd.

"Yeah. I agree." replied a kid that was munching the wooden edge of the ship. He had dark colored hair, the same color as Jensen's hair, dark brown eyes and he wore an orange shirt with dark orange pants. He didn't wear any shoes at all and he had very large teeth, so large that people used to comment that he had the jaw of a shark.

"You should just keep eating the ship! We don't need your opinion, Dentus!" yelled Kaboo and punched his young friend.

"Why did you punch me?! Take this!" the young kid bit the man at the shoulder.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kaboo screamed and started crying, making the whole crew close their ears.

"Chill out, guys." a melodic voice, coming from another boy. "Let me play the guitar and let's all calm down." said the young boy. He had golden colored hair that fell in front of his face, covering it completely. He did not wear anything at his upper body part, while he only wore turquoise colored pants and blue colored shoes. He also carried a guitar that allowed him to play his music.

"Nice. I like your music, Handrix. It's as if it comes from the heaven..." said the last one of the kids. He was a bald kid that wore a dark robe and two white wing accessories on his back. He wore glasses on his eyes and he carried a book on his left hand.

"Thank you, Uriel. You are my greatest fan." the guitarist smiled and he started playing the guitar, making Kaboo stop crying and everybody stop closing their ears.

"Captain... Why did we take those orphans with us?" asked Morg with an awkward look on his face.

"Yes, captain, why did you take us?" asked Todd.

"Who knows, Todd... Maybe I will fail one day... But the six of you may carry our will and eventually make your own crew or join another crew that will find One Piece! The more we are, the more the will of the Free Pirates will spread." said the captain.

"Huh?" Todd was confused.

"Forget that. I just found the six of you interesting." said the captain.

"Oh okay." Todd smiled and turned his head towards Morg. "Sir, shall we train?" he asked.

"Sure, Todd." the real swordsman said and the two of them would walk towards the training room in order to train.

[Flashback ends]

"Todd!" Dentus was happy to see the swordsman.

"Hey guys. It's been a while."

"MPHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jensen could not really speak.

"You can talk later, you six... When I defeat that friend of yours and take him into the same cell as you!" said Zred as he rushed at Todd, punching him in the face with great force, so great that one single punch was capable enough to make Todd's nose bleed.

"You still have that weakness, don't you?" asked Kaboo. "You are still taking the first hit for being off guard."

"Indeed." Todd smiled as soon as he listened to the pirate's voice and he cleaned his nose with his left hand, covering his hand with his own blood. Afterwards, he move his right hand at the sword's handle and he unsheathed it, pointing with it towards the enemy.

"Hm? You bothered unsheathing your sword? Why would you waste your energy on doing such an action when you know that I am going to beat you down?" asked the marine.

"You are way too arrogant, you know. I have met arrogant people, but you are something else." Todd laughed.

"Why do people always tell me that?" wondered Zred and scratched his head, as if he did not really know.

"Sword Drill!" Todd run at Zred and attempted to drill him with his sword, which was known other than his regular katana.

"Are you really drilling with your swooooooooooord? Oh noooooooooooooo... I am way too scared. HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" said Zred and he raised his two wooden tonfas as the attack was about to strike him. With ease, the marine just stopped the drilling attack like it was nothing with his two tonfas, which were broken afterwards.

"Huh?! Impossible!" Todd was shocked.

"Nope... This is going to be impossible." Zred leaped back a few steps, taking a distance from his enemy. Then, he swung his leg with great force upwards, launching a powerful air blade that traveled with great speed towards Todd.

"..." without saying anything, Todd twitched his eyes and froze, surprised with the attack that the enemy just launched against him.

"TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODD!" the members of the Freak Pirates yelled in agony, when they noticed that the swordsman had just been slashed through the chest by the powerful attack of the marine.

"Rankyaku." said Zred while stomping the ground and creating a hole due to the sheer force his foot had.

Zred Palmer was a powerful individual without doubt!


	23. Trouble in the forest

After a short battle against Zred, before he could actually do anything, Todd was completely defeated thanks to the powerful techniques the marine used, including that air blade he created with his leg. Now, Todd is at the same situation his old friends, the Freak Pirates, are and with an enemy like Zred it is very difficult for him to find a way and escape along with his friends. What will happen next?

Todd's eyes are closed while he is also tied along with the crew of the Freak Pirates. He is still bleeding, but he is not as much as he used to. The wound has almost closed. His swords are also taken by the marine, so that Todd would not take advantage of them in order to escape.

"You bastard..." Todd woke up and looked at his enemy with an angry expression.

"I have heard that phrase so many times that I will start thinking it as a compliment." said Zred.

"Just don't speak to him, like we do. The more he speaks, the more he will anger you." said Kaboo.

"I know... But I cannot hold myself! He has my swords! Those swords are precious for me. They remind me of the two persons that handed them to me..."

"You still have Morg's sword?" asked Handrix.

"Yes..." said Todd and he took a deep breath, probably remembering something.

"Don't talk for a while." Zred interfered. "I have a call to make."

* * *

Inside the forest...

"I... I... I am... I am Crash." said Crash while messing with his hair.

"You look surprised. Is anything wrong?" asked a marine.

"No, not at all... It's not that I am hiding things or anything."

"You do know that the way you talk makes you look like you are lying, don't you?"

"Erm... No."

"Well, he told us his name so he is probably okay." said another marine.

"Yes." said Crash with a smile on his face, probably because he got outside the weird situation he was in.

"And what were you do-" asked a marine, but before he completed his question, the Den Den Mushi started ringing. Pero pero. Pero pero. Pero pero. The snail was talking as it took the appearance of a man with light blue colored hair and cyan colored eyes. The one calling was none other than Zred, apparently. "Excuse me." said the marine before turning on the communication.

"It's me, Zred." said Zred.

"I figured."

"Listen. I got the Freak Pirates quite easily. However, I also found "Black Sandal" Todd of the Relic Pirates. He seems to have a connection with those people. Nonetheless, I caught all of them." explained Zred.

"That sounds fantastic."

"As expected from a man like me."

"Yeah, yeah." agreed the man from the phone, but in reality he made a face fault Zred could not see, showing his disgust.

"What?! Todd was caught?!" shouted Crash, upon listening to the news.

"Do you know that man?" asked the marine to Crash.

"Hm? Who are you talking to?" asked Zred from the Den Den Mushi.

"There is a weird guy here we just found... And he seemed surprised about Black Sandal."

"Don't let him go. He might be with him. After all, the Relic Pirates are probably more than a captain and a first mate." ordered Zred.

"Okay. Guys, point at him!" ordered the marine the rest of the force who were at the forest and they all raised their guns, aiming at Crash.

"This sucks. Why did I give away myself that easily anyway?" Crash made a question to himself, ensuring the Marines that they were right about his identity. "Oops. I did it again."

"You did. Don't move!" yelled the marines at him and Crash dropped his bag, while raising his hands up.

"Now I am in trouble." said the man.

"You are. What do you have in that bag? Do you carry bombs or anything?"

"No, but you are giving me ideas. I might come up with a trick like that. But where shall I keep my sniper if I do so?" said Crash.

"So you do have a sniper, huh?" one of the marines started moving at the place of the bag and he opened it, only to notice that it had the various parts of a sniper as well as a bottle of alchohol.

"See? I didn't lie."

"I have to admit that you are honest about that." said the marine who checked the bag.

"Will you let me go now? I don't have a bounty on my head, anyway."

"I doubt that. Even if you don't have, you are a pirate."

"So? I haven't done anything bad! Yet..."

"If we want you jailed, we can figure out things. We could just give a small bounty for your head to have you arrested. That's easy." were the words of a marine.

"No way! I just started as a pirate!"

"We don't care..." the marines started laughing but as they did so, several fire balls were launched at the marines, burning their clothes and making them drop their weapons down.

"You were late." said Crash, who run and picked up the bag with his sniper.

"Sorry. I loved seeing you in trouble." Flare laughed at the man.

"Now, let's go! Their boss might come soon!"

"Right!" Flare agreed and the two of them started running away.

"Wait!" shouted the marines who managed to stop the fire on their clothes and they picked up their guns before following the sniper and the doctor of the Relic Pirates...

Flare and Crash were also in trouble!


End file.
